The Decade's Hottness: The Mars Volta

Yesterday I stopped by Criminal Records and got a copy of the new Mars Volta record, The Bedlam In Goliath. I discovered that indie record shops like Criminal are bundling the record with a bonus disc, that is actually a half CD, half vinyl disc. Behold:





Each side contains a cover of Pink Floyd's "Candy And A Currant Bun" and the Cd side also contains a video of "Wax Simulacra". So if you are in the ATL, I suggest running over there if only to have this first of its kind media. They have other media release tricks up their sleeve too. You can buy the album on a 1 gig flashdrive here. The flashdrive also has the album artwork and the "Wax Simulacra" video, and, what's really cool is, on the 29th of each month for the rest of the year, when you plug your flashdrive into your computer, it will download all sorts of TMV goodies like b-sides, webisodes, exlcusive tracks, etc. It even looks cool:



So, now let's get to the music itself. The typical bad TMV reviews have already started rolling in from the usual suspects (we'll wait to see if Pitchfork gives it more or less than the 3.5 they gave my 2006 Album of the Year, or maybe they'll be too cool to even review it). So far I've only listened to the album twice, so this will be more my first reaction to the album than an in-depth analysis. The first thing that sticks out in my mind is that Thomas Pridgen seems to fit in perfectly. The popular sentiment among TMV fans over the last year was that he was too overbearing and "showy" but on the recording all I hear is finesse and perfectly placed badassity. I love Jon Theodore, but I think they found the best possible replacement.

I like how the album just takes off from the beginning, like you're starting right in the middle of a song. It's like when a movie starts off in a huge action scene. I'm not sure if I'm just over-analyzing or not, but it feels like the album musically is sort of two chapters split up in the middle, where the first one is more hard rocking and the second part it gets really crazy. I haven't quite gotten into the lyrics yet, but with all of them printed in the CD book, I'll be diving into that next.

Overall, my first impression is that this album is just as impressive as all the rest so far, and that I've yet to become too sick of their sound or what they do yet. The album is packed full of new twists and turns that are very fun to ride out. TMV is elite and probably the best band to emerge from this decade. Where they may not have the biggest influence on other artists right now and will be totally misunderstood by 90% of the indie rock journalist bourgeoisie, there's no doubt in my mind that they have made some of this decade's greatest albums.

Stream the bonus song:

The Mars Volta : Candy And A Currant Bun (Pink Floyd)