It’s been 17 years since At The Drive-In last released an album. That was 2000’s Relationship Of Command, which topped my list the first year that I did an albums of the year list, and it
remains one of my favourite albums ever (probably top five). In the years since, At The Drive-In’s sound has gone
on to influence post-hardcore, and
wider guitar music, in a way few bands can lay claim to. Their reunion and return with in•ter a•li•a ultimately is somewhat
bittersweet. My expectations were
unrealistically high, and so it’s unfair to say they haven’t delivered here. This is very
At The Drive-In, pretty much in all
respects. Omar’s screeching guitar is
back, as is Cedric’s howl (Jim Ward’s absence is felt, but not problematic, and
his replacement Keeley Davis does just fine). The songs on in•ter a•li•a are
uniformly strong; I can’t highlight any stand-out tracks because the quality
doesn’t dip at all. They’ve picked up exactly where they left off:
this record slots in perfectly with their previous albums and could’ve been
made in 2002. But it has been 17 years,
and for a band that was all about risks I can’t help but be a bit disappointed
that in•ter a•li•a doesn’t take
any. This is vintage At The Drive-In, but offers nothing meaningfully
different, and only comes in somewhere in the lower half of their back
catalogue in terms of quality. Mid-level
At The Drive-In, of course, still
beats many bands at their best, and it undeniably is fantastic to have them
back. Somewhat ironically, I think
seeing them live for the second time (the first was, again, 17 years ago – I am
old) dropped this album a bit in my estimation, despite the fact that they remain an
outstanding live act. in•ter a•li•a may have made a push for
the top 10, but hearing these songs directly juxtaposed with tracks from Relationship
Of Command made it abundantly clear both how similar they are and how not as
good they are. Far from a bad return and
well worth its 15th place, but it does little to move things on, and
never quite reaches the quality of what went before.
sample track: Holtzclaw