Top 10 albums of 2017, No 8: At the drive-in – In•ter A•li•a

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Here it is people! 2017 is almost out the door and these are our 10 favorite albums of the year:

08. At the drive-in – In•ter A•li•a
It is often said that difficult and tense situations tend to lead to great artistic expression and creation. That’s nothing we haven’t seen before all over the globe at different times. That’s basically what led to the birth of hip hop and punk for instance.

In that sense, it should seem logical that At the drive-in not only reunited but also released a new album.

After all, At the drive-in always had something to say. They were never the type to be quiet. Lead singer Bixler-Zavala’s lyrics, were almost never direct but always commenting on political and personal, often difficult issues. Take “No wolf like the present” (the opening track from In•ter A•li•a) for instance, a track that according to Bixler-Zavala is “my take on the war on African-Americans from an organized police force. It’s a tricky subject matter, especially within our band. Our bass player’s (Paul Hinojos) father-in-law is a police officer; the drummer’s (Tony Hajjar) father-in-law is a detective. You want to open up this dialogue that doesn’t say ‘Fuck all police’, but if you’ve grown up with them breathing down your neck I can understand that point of view. For some of us who haven’t, you want to have that cognizant dialogue. Not all [police] are bad, so it’s tricky subject matter and sometimes I hide behind the way I write so it’s not so obvious”. Then there’s also “Incurably Innocent”, a song about sexual abuse and being able to finally speak out.

What’s probably the most impressive thing about In•ter A•li•a, is that it seems like At the drive-in pick up where they left off 17 years ago, and they don’t fall victim to a “curse” that has a lot of bands produce somewhat disappointing new albums after a long hiatus. Loud, fast and angry at times, In•ter A•li•a is everything one would hope to hear from At the drive-in after all these years. And hopefully this is not the last we heard from them.

This time around we (as fans) didn’t make the same mistake as back in 2000 and made sure we got to see them play live and I must say that much like their new album, they do not disappoint!