Now I’m Lost
I absolutely love the full-length debut De-Loused in the Comatorium from The Mars Volta. With a story that that has one foot firmly planted in reality—in part based on the death of El Paso artist and friend Julio Venegas—and the other somewhere in singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s wild imagination, the former At the Drive-In frontman and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez managed to harness the intensity and inventiveness of their former band to create what I believe will forever be their finest work (I wish I could say as much for their subsequent releases, which to me, have been spotty at best).
Also hitching a ride from the ATDI days are Bixler-Zavala’s nonsensical, obtuse beat poet lyrics and Rodriguez-Lopez’s mad-scientist-like guitar noodling. The album sports a very heavily latin/jazz-influenced rhythm and feel and features RHCP wildman Flea on bass, with guest spots by John Frusciante on guitar.
I still don’t know quite what to think of a band whose lead singer slips as easily between English, Spanish, and some seemingly made-up language as I do English and Southern—yes, Southern really is a language all its own—or of a guitarist who has frequently expressed his frustration with the limitations of his main instrument’s ability to express what he hears in his head and who seems to release a solo album every other day. But I do know that if you invest the time to listen to De-Loused completely (with headphones, that’s a must) in one sitting (and it may take several listens), you’ll hopefully find it as rewarding as I do.
I would love to feature some concert footage of The Mars Volta, but their live performances just seem to frustrate me. I have witnessed a show on my cable company’s on-demand service that was pure perfection (and where the number of personnel on stage was more like a small army or sports team than a band), but Rodriguez-Lopez is just as likely to play an entire concert with his guitar wildly out of tune while Bixler-Zavala simply screams and mutters unintelligibly.
When The Mars Volta are on their game, they are a force to be reckoned with live, so maybe I’ll dig up something soon that I think is worth showing, but for now I leave you with the music video for the first single from the album, “Inertiatic ESP.”
Enjoy!
