Relationship of Command
It's rare that a band can provide a visceral thrill--Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit",Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name"--and still work the gray matter as well. Here's a band that's refined the art. Hailing from El Paso, Texas, At the Drive-In come poised somewhere between the rabid showmanship of theMake-Upand the complexity of emo pioneers the Lapse, but through sheer adrenaline, they leave both bands choking on their exhaust fumes. Sure, they've got their unique selling point--lead singer Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez both sport immense Afros--but this band isn't about gimmickry. Recorded after touring with Rage Against the Machine,Relationship of Commandis the punk-rock real deal, the angular hardcore dynamic of "One Armed Scissor" and "Rolodex Propaganda" (the latter featuringIggy Pop) as focused and affecting as any recent American rock. "And the paramedics fell into the wound like a rehired scab at a fair-headed plant, an anaesthetic penance beneath a hail of contraband! / Dancing on the corpses' ashes!"  spits Bixler on the album's high-water mark, "Invalid Letter Dept." What does it all mean? Do you really need to ask?--Louis Pattison