At the Drive-In: (l-r) Omar, Tony, Jim, Paul, Cedric
At the Drive-In were a post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas from 1993 until 2001. The band is named after a lyric from the song "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison.
Influenced primarily by the likes of Fugazi and Drive Like Jehu, ATDI crafted epic, post-hardcore and sometimes almost stadium rock-like songs with complex time signatures and cryptic lyrics. ATDI's first studio recording was Hell Paso (Western Breed), an EP issued in 1994. They quickly developed a following as intense in loyalty as the band was on stage. At the Drive-In's reputation for impressive live performances outlived the band's career. It was this reputation and the release of perhaps their best-known album, Relationship of Command (2000), that contributed largely to the attention they received in the rock press towards the end of their career as ATDI. According to some sources, At the Drive-In struggled to recreate their intense live experience in the studio, at one point trying to circumvent this problem by recording their second full-length, In/Casino/Out (1998), as a live studio album.
At the Drive-In were also noted by the music press for the afros of Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. The hairstyle became synonymous with the pair's image.
In 2001, at the peak of their popularity and following a world tour, At the Drive-In split up, initially referring to the split as an "indefinite hiatus." Though the reasons for their breakup have not been made clear, Bixler and Rodriguez-Lopez have stated that they wanted their next album to sound like Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn, while the other members of the band wanted it to sound more like Weezer. All five former members have continued to make music, Bixler and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez with The Mars Volta and Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar as Sparta. By comparing the musical styles of these two bands, the nature of any creative differences that may have led to the split become evident. In 2005, Paul Hinojos left Sparta to join The Mars Volta as "sound manipulator," a spot previously held by Jim Ward's late cousin, Jeremy Ward.
Group members
Discography
Studio Albums
EPs
Singles
Compilations
Splits
See also
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