LP’s CDs #2: At The Drive-in, Relationship of Command, 2000. Or: a classic.

I don’t remember buying Relationship of Command, my first listen or how I heard about At The Drive-in.

What I do remember is the huge impression this album made on me. It sounded significant: post-hardcore, a bit emo, with lots of that really compelling loud-quiet-loud thing. I listened on repeat for months, and each replay made me breathless and dizzy with excitement.

I bought a ticket to see them play at Nottingham Rock City. It was 70 miles away. It was on a weeknight. No one wanted to go with me. But I was still pumped. There was no way I could miss this…

… They split up right before the gig. I was devastated.

I bought all the solo stuff from The Mars Volta (good) and Sparta (meh) but it wasn’t the same. (I’ll come to both those bands later on in this project).

Yesterday afternoon I re-listened to the album for the first time in a while. I think I avoided it for years in case it wasn’t as good as I remembered.

But it is. Better, even.

I put it on and found myself in a one-woman mosh pit before I even made the chorus of the first song. My husband came home in the middle and told me off — he said the volume was anti-social. (Dear upstairs neighbour, sorry, but I hope you’ll allow me this after a decade of listening to your wall-shaking reggae.)

Relationship of Command doesn’t sound dated to me. You can tell what era it’s from, but it sounds like a classic. The other thing striking thing? Every track’s a banger. (Okay, *maybe* the skit about kola nuts in brown paper could go.) This is so rare. When you come back to an old album, it’s not unusual to spot some filler. Not this. It’s good to the last drop.

Now I want to listen to the stuff they’ve made since they reformed, which I’ve skipped because I held this album in such high esteem.

The only negative is realising this album is almost 20 years old made me feel nauseous. This whole project will be like that, I guess.

I’m finding it almost impossible to pick a favourite track, because as I said before: good to the last drop. If I have to, I’ll go for Arcarsenal for three minutes of post-hardcore perfection. But I’m going to recommend that you treat yourself and listen to the whole thing.