An epically distracted pigeon rising from the ashes

Given the decidedly pharmaceutical bent of the Mars Volta's output (their first two full-lengths were both concept albums inspired by the separate overdose deaths of two of the band's associates), it's a wonder that no one at their record label has tried to slip them some Adderall. Alternatively, maybe they're just taking wayyy too much of America's favorite amphetamine. In either case, the song remains the same: If any band ever cried out for focus, blessed focus, it's this one. The differences between the Mars Volta and its magesterial, seminal predecessor, At the Drive-In, from whose ashes they rose like some sort of epically distracted pigeon, have been documented to death, but that doesn't make them easier to get past. It's no longer news that where ATDI rocked, Mars Volta wanks, but that's no reason to stop with the ridicule.

You can read the rest of my review of The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath at Slant Magazine.