At the Drive-In are
back!
Metronome Arthritis. Invalid Letter Department. Rolodex Propaganda. Either these are the track names Simon Cowell is formulating for this year’s X Factor Christmas number one, or they are three track names taken from Post-Hardcore legends At the Drive-In’s back catalogue.
Having taken an indefinite hiatus at the peak of their
popularity in 2000, this month they are making their first appearance on these
shores for 12 years at Reading and Leeds Festival, followed by an appearance at
Brixton Academy. Hailed from El Paso, the group are perhaps most famous for
their single One Armed Scissor from
their last album Relationship of Command,
released in 2000.
Why is their reunion so special? Well at the turn of the
millennium, when mainstream rock was dominated by an epidemic of unimaginative
nu-metal, a faction of rock fans needed light relief, and this light relief
came from At the Drive-In. Their high energy, anarchic live performances were
matched by no-one at the time and the originality of their recorded work, which
married explosive aggressive hardcore with a soft melodic drive had never been
heard of or has been replicated since.
With 2012 being the ‘year of reunions’ which has seen the Stone
Roses, Beach Boys and Black Sabbath make their much hyped returns, there is
little buzz in the mainstream media about At the Drive-In’s live come back. But
that is exactly how the band, and no doubt the fans, would always want it. The sheer
affinity and veneration that At the Drive-In’s followers have towards the band,
who never catered to or changed their sound to reach the mainstream, is unique.
We almost feel like a cult, a following, a privileged few who managed to discover
something special that so many people missed out on a decade ago.
The return of At the Drive-in may not be breaking news, but
for a certain group of rock fans it’s the news we’ve been waiting to hear for
the last 12 years.
