Album #28 : At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command

At the Drive-In

Relationship of Command (2000)

At the Drive-In had been together for seven years by the time Relationship of Command dropped in 2000. Those seven years had seen the band progress from playing dingy, near-empty venues to a post-hardcore band with a loyal fanbase and an abrasive, yet unique, sound. Their previous releases had been modest sellers, although they'd shown a clear evolution in the group's approach to recording. From the lo-fi beginnings of Acrobatic Tenement, to the more well rounded sound of In/Casino/Out, the group had realised that the best way to represent their sound was to record live and capture the insanity of a live ATDI performance.

The result was Relationship of Command, the band's final album before their break-up. Critically regarded as one of the finest albums of the noughties, it's another album that reminds me of nights at mates' houses, having beverages while marvelling at this raucous energetic sound.

Let's dig deeper into At the Drive-In's magnum opus.

The Album

I was already familiar with some of the songs on Relationship of Command, but it's another one of those albums I own but have never listened to fully. Am I glad I remedied that!

Opener Arcarsenal signals (as all great opening tracks should) what you're in for - a high-octane, energy-laden post-hardcore punk masterpiece. It's riffy, it's manic, it's amazing. Vocal maestro Cedric Bixler-Zavala sounds positively fucking amazing and he spends most of the track screaming. This heavy, energetic hardcore influence doesn't stop there, either. Pattern Against User takes the elements of the first track and adds a new layer to them; more intricate riffs and guitar lines (the sort that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez would make his stock in trade with The Mars Volta) are present, and you just know those nonsensical-yet-evocative lyrics are the product of Bixler-Zavala's fevered imagination.

Then there's One Armed Scissor, the song best known from the band and the album, and with good reason. It never really lets go of your throat, the urgent yet quieter verses merely acting as a soothing panacea to the intense choruses, while Bixler-Zavala truly shows the full extent of his singing prowess. Tony Hajjar's drumming is equally as intense and injects energy into the song. Plus, it just sounds so....massive. 

Sleepwalk Capsules and Mannequin Republic are the other proper hardcore-heavy tracks; the former an absolute balltearer with yet more supreme vocal and drum work, and the midsection dials the intensity down enough to keep you interested; while the latter is equally compelling, with its discordant guitar making it more akin to a noise rock song, at times.

For a Mars Volta devotee like me though, the album contains so many hints at the future direction of Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez smattered in amongst the riproaring post-hardcore sounds. Invalid Litter Dept. is a prime example. A downbeat piano melody (played by Jim Ward) starts the song, before the verses kick in with spoken word vocals. Only the choruses, and the last minute of the song, are 'typical' ATDI; the rest is more progressive in nature and a departure from the overall sound of the album. Another great example is the sensational Quarantined, which, at the beginning, brings back memories of Black Sabbath with its doom-laden riff and storm sound effects. What it ends up being is a heavy progressive track that would not have been out of place on the first three Mars Volta releases.

There's also a guest appearance from punk icon Iggy Pop. Iggy guests on two tracks; Enfilade (which bears great resemblance, sonically, to the Mars Volta's Tremulant EP) and the stunning Rolodex Propaganda, which features a more prominent keyboard line. 

Finally, album closer Non-Zero Possibility is a remarkably non-hardcore track. Another song that owes a great deal to progressive rock, the song is driven largely by another sad piano melody, while layers of acoustic guitar and wailing electric guitars hum away underneath. It's the most atmospheric and experimental track on the album, and finishes (appropriately enough, I suppose) with the most Volta moment of all - an eerie manipulated soundscape until the song's end. 

It wraps the album up perfectly as a largely post-hardcore masterpiece with elements of the progressive; elements that would later serve as the basis of one of modern music's most innovative and brilliant bands.

The Verdict

I struggle to have enough superlatives to describe Relationship of Command. Take genres and decades of release out of the equation, and it is simply one of the most compelling and complete albums I've ever heard. My Standout Tracks below will be nigh on impossible because every song is a standout (I suppose I'll pick four, but only because choosing three or four is the current established protocol.) Essential listening for all, especially if you're one of those people who loves One Armed Scissor but hasn't heard any other At the Drive-In tracks.

Do yourself a favour (thanks Molly Meldrum) and check this album out. Or, if you own it, spin it again at your earliest convenience and have your ears, brain and face thank me later.

My rating: *****

Standout Tracks

Quarantined

Arcarsenal

One Armed Scissor

Sleepwalk Capsules

Tomorrow's album is another 2000s release by an English band that started their career like a comet. I look at their second album and, along the way, wonder what happened to them.