Scab Dates

Performer: The Mars Volta
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Mars Volta: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Jon Theodore, Amery AWOL Smith, Pablo Gonzalez, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, Juan Alderette, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Henry Trejo, Adrian G. Gonzalez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Rising from the ashes of emo-punk band At The Drive-In, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Baxter-Zavala formed the anti-genre outfit the Mars Volta, one of the most far-out bands in contemporary rock. Like FRANCES THE MUTE, their sophomore album, SCAB DATES--a live album culled from various performances between 2003 and 2005--meshes psychedelia, hard rock, trance, Latin music, electronica, and progressive rock into a mercurial, unpredictable amalgam. With their 19-piece band, Rodriguez-Lopez and Baxter-Zavala spin their audiences through a barrage of styles and a plethora of instrumentation. Surprisingly, the Mars Volta are able to replicate much of their insanely complex music in a live setting. This is the sort of brain-melting fare for which the term "trippy" was invented, and the disc's 72-minute duration gives the musicians plenty of room to stretch out (especially on the closer, "Cicatriz," which clocks in at about 40 minutes). Buckle your seatbelts.

Rolling Stone (No. 988, p.122) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...[A] balls-out concert record made for the headphones." Uncut (p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[A] blend of free jazz, Cuban rhythms, prog-rock, metal and Afrobeat..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'Haruspex' makes viscous dub soup out of febrile jazz organ and Cedric Bixler-Zavala's vocal ululations."

Though Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala did time in popular Emo band At The Drive-In, their subsequent project, the Mars Volta, is a horse of an entirely different color. Instead of punk, the pair takes their influences largely from 1970s prog rock and fusion. Extended, suite-like compositions and dizzying instrumental virtuosity are the order of the day, rather than adolescent angst and primitive pounding. Mars Volta's debut album, 2003's DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM announced the band's presence with a bang, setting a standard for post-emo ambitions in the mid-2000s.

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