The Mars Volta's influences are nowhere near those of most contemporary rock bands', such as Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, and the White Stripes. In the latter part of the classic rock era, something happened. I like to call it the "acid effect"—once bands started tripping on LSD, and blues and typical "rock" structures elapsed, the many realms of space were being explored under the term art/progressive rock. Bands like King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, and Rush pushed the limits of rock, incorporating complex instrumental breaks with themes, motifs, and intricate lyrical images that begged the listener to absorb the music without prejudice or expectations, completely vulnerable and willing to undergo whatever might happen within the music.
The history behind The Mars Volta began with At the Drive-In; an El Paso, Texas hard rock garage band, whose greatest successes were their lastest album, Relationship of Command and the subsequent single "One-Armed Scissor." Surprisingly, At the Drive-In broke up, with three of its five members forming Sparta and the Afroed Two. The remaining members—lead guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala—formed the ethnically diverse The Mars Volta along with keyboard/organist Ikey Owens from the Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Jeremy Michael Ward on bass, and the impressive and powerful Jon Theodore on drums.
De-Loused in the Comatorium, their first full-length album, was released in 2003 with Flea filling in on bass on all tracks and John Frusciante (both from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) on guitar in "Cicatriz ESP." The music on the album, and particularly on the demanding "Cicatriz ESP," employs free jazz, electric dub, progressive rock outbursts, unorthodox guitar riffs and solos, Latin percussion, and Bixler's Robert Plant and Geddy Lee vocal brew. That same year, The Mars Volta toured Europe with the Chili Peppers, a move that gave them instant credibility and exposed them to large audiences. Upon their return from Europe, though, and a month before the release of their Rick Rubin produced debut, Ward overdosed.
Their second LP, Frances the Mute, released last month, finds them with new bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, and percussionist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (Omar's younger brother), concocting a five-part suite of bilingual relentless prog-rock, with splashes of salsa and a power ballad (!), while continuously being in debt to pioneer Pink Floyd. (It's not a coincidence that Storm Thorgerson, the artist behind Floyd's Wish You Were Here and Animals and Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, created most of the artwork for this album). Flea and Frusciante perform on this album as well, the former on trumpet and the latter playing two guitar solos in "L'Via L'Viaquez." There are themes and melodies that appear at the beginning of the album and then evaporate amidst the chaos, only to reappear near the end within the 30-plus minute "Cassandra Gemini." In this piece, a saxophone rises from the tumult to play a couple of phrases only to be drowned in the commotion. The elder Rodriguez-Lopez rips twitching guitar solos and for a moment, it seems like we're navigating through space, half-way to the sun.
With only two full-length albums out, they have already toured with the Chili Peppers and Metallica (Lars Ulrich called Jon Theodore "the best drummer alive"), who obviously had a profound effect on them. The Mars Volta are unlike any other band out there and their dynamic is vintage: falsetto vocals, an intense guitarist with a quiet demeanor packed with erupting riffs, solos, and hooks, a fierce drummer, and bass and keyboards that complement and intertwine with the other instruments and voices. Make way for The Mars Volta.