T HAS TO FIGURE THAT CURRENT
scenester darlings At the Drive In
I are from El Paso, Texas, a border
city of essential opposites. On the
one hand, El Paso is one of the
biggest drug ports in the world and
has a penchant for attracting (or
perhaps creating) serial killers, such as the
recently captured Railway Killer (who was
on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list) and the
Night Stalker who terrorized Los
Angeles in the 1980s. Yet, El Paso's
water supply is contaminated with
a natural source of lithium,
making the lethargic El
Paso the "Land
Mañana," and At the
Drive In's emergence
that much more
improbable.
of
"There is a
bunch of crazy shit
that happens and it
gives you a whole new
perspective on life if you are
from a place like that," says
vocalist Cedric Bixler, who
shakes his hips like Fugazi's Guy
Picciotto, swings his microphone like
Robert Plant, and, sporting a bit of an
afro at a recent show in New York City,
looks a little like Horshack from Welcome
Back, Kotter. But Bixler, along with guitarist
Omar Rodriguez (whose matching afro
makes him look like Kotter's Juan Epstein),
guitarist Jim Ward, bassist Pall Hinojosa,
and drummer Tony Hajaar, are definitely on
to something, having just released the seven-song
Vaya and still riding high from last year's breakout
In/Casino/Out. To bite someone else's comparison,
At the Drive In combine the deconstructionist post-
punk of Fugazi, the hardcore expressiveness of
Avail, and the warm-fuzzy boyishness of the
Promise Ring. Made simpler, they sometimes
sound like Downcast doing camp songs.
EP
While they are punk rock's current "It Boys,"
their humble punk rock origins allow the band
to keep a grounded sense of reality. Unlike
the historical critical scenes in
Washington, DC, or New York, El
Paso isn't known for, well,
anyone (except for
mmm
an obscure punk band called the Rhythm Pigs,
Cedric quickly points out). "Being from El Paso,
where people don't give a fuck, you learn really
quickly that the hype is over," explains Jim.
"Look, we are from Texas, we ride in a van, and
we bust our asses... We aren't part of a clique
or a gang or a crew," he says with a shrug.
was
But that sense of anonymity will continue to
evaporate. Although they had a tough time
getting hooked up with a label before signing
with Fearless Records prior to Casino, there
was considerable interest in signing At the
Drive In this past year. While the band could
have likely landed at any number of choice,
well known indie/punk labels, they opted to
sign with the Digital Entertainment Network, a
startup company that focuses on television
broadcasting and music for online delivery.
While DEN currently broadcasts the Vandal's
Joe Escalante's Fear of a Punk Planet series, its
music division is run by two not-so-punk
entertainment veterans, Gary Gersh, a former
bigwig at Capital Records, and John Silva, an
executive at
tive at Gold Mountain Management
company, who were responsible for the careers.
of Sonic Youth and Nirvana.
Despite Gersh and Silva's lack of punk pedi-
gree, the Drive In fellas have a slightly differ-
ent perspective on the duo. "We answer to
two guys who are really supportive
of what we do and not to a
group of shareholders
AT THE
or a guy who has
DRIVE
114 THRASHER
never seen or heard us," said Jim. "When
they asked us to sign as their first band, they
said that we are now part of a family and
there are responsibilities to being part of this
family. That really fits with our ideology of
what playing in. a band is about-it's about
family." Indeed, the label offers a 50/50 part-
nership with its artists, shorter-term deals,
and lots of creative control, according to the
company's online brochure-ware.
Family values aside, expect DEN to allow (if
not encourage) the quintet to explore some
dimensions in their sound, particularly drum
and bass and dub sounds. "We could write
Casino again. We could write "Beta Centauri,"
pick a formula and write all we want to. But
that's boring," says Jim. "I don't want to regress
in any way," adds Cedric, whose musical taste
runs from Gang of Four, Slayer, and the Clash to
King Tubby and salsa music. "You have to hit a
lot of the hot spots without making it an ugly
fusion. you do it the right way, you can get
rid of a lot of the labels like 'emo,' which has
gotten so played out and old."
For now, the band will concentrate on one
record at a time, as they get settled in their new
California digs. (Yep, Cedric, Omar, Pall, and
Tony took the plunge and moved out of Texas.)
After some dates with Rage Against the
Machine, At the Drive In will concentrate on
writing a new record due out sometime this
spring, and finally put El Paso punk rock
into the zeitgeist.
-Joseph Epstein
SPIT
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