Acrobatic Tenement

2025-07-23T22:02:48Z

2600:1700:DD80:5030:F0DB:8B75:5880:36B:

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album|
| name = Acrobatic Tenement
| type = [[Album]]
| artist = [[At the Drive-In]]
| cover = At the Drive-In - Acrobatic Tenement cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 18, 1996
| recorded = July 1996
| venue =
| studio = Commercial Soundworks ([[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]])
| genre = [[Post-hardcore]], [[emo]], [[punk rock]]
| length = 32:20
| label = [[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]]
| producer = Blaze James, Doug Green
| prev_title = ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = [[El Gran Orgo]]
| next_year = 1997
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r350159|pure_url=yes}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Consequence of Sound]]''
| rev2Score = C+<ref name="COS">{{cite web|last1=Bray|first1=Ryan|title=At The Drive-In – Acrobatic Tenement [Reissue]|url=http://consequence.net/2013/03/album-review-at-the-drive-in-acrobatic-tenement-reissue/|website=consequence.net|date=7 March 2013|publisher=Consequence Of Sound|accessdate=2013-04-09}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Drowned in Sound]]''
| rev3Score = 10/10<ref name="Drowned In Sound">{{cite web|last1=Tarry|first1=Lucy|title=Album Review: At The Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement|url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/4795/reviews/4256|website=drownedinsound.com|publisher=Drowned In Sound|accessdate=2002-07-03|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072943/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/4795/reviews/4256|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev4Score = 6.5/10<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web|last1=Cohen|first1=Ian|title=Double Review of Acrobatic Tenement and Relationship Of Command|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17973-at-the-drive-in-acrobatic-tenement-relationship-of-command/|website=pitchfork.com|publisher=Pitchfork|accessdate=2013-04-09}}</ref>
}}
'''''Acrobatic Tenement''''' is the debut studio album by American [[post-hardcore]] band [[At the Drive-In]], released on August 18, 1996, on [[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://atthedrive-in.net/sounds.htm |title=At the Drive-in |access-date=2018-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000422124127/http://atthedrive-in.net/sounds.htm |archive-date=2000-04-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The album was reissued by [[Fearless Records]] in 2004, along with the band's subsequent albums ''[[In/Casino/Out]]'' and ''[[Relationship of Command]]'', and was re-released again in 2013.

Only one track from ''Acrobatic Tenement'' appeared on the band's 2005 retrospective [[compilation album]] ''[[This Station Is Non-Operational]]'', with "Initiation" appearing as a live BBC recording.

==Background and recording==
''Acrobatic Tenement'' was initially released on August 18, 1996, exclusively on [[compact disc]] through the Los Angeles–based independent record label/[[fanzine]] ''[[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]]'', after some of its editors saw the band perform in Los Angeles.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|last1=DaRonco|first1=Mike|title=All Music Guide Biography|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/at-the-drive-in-mn0000932154/biography|website=allmusic.com|publisher=All Music Guide|accessdate=2015-10-07}}</ref> The record was recorded at Commercial Soundworks in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] for only $600 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=600|start_year=1996|fmt=eq|cursign=$}}) after the band concluded a tour of the United States.<ref name="Drowned In Sound"/> The album has been noted for its lack of guitar [[Distortion (music)|distortion]], due to guitarist [[Jim Ward (musician)|Jim Ward]] believing that his distortion-free recorded parts would not be used for the final master.<ref name="vice">{{cite web|last1=Cepeda|first1=Eddie (2017-06-14)|title=At the Drive-In's 'El Gran Orgo' EP Captured a Band Struggling to Survive|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/at-the-drive-in-el-gran-orgo-1997-the-year-emo-broke/|website=noisey.vice.com|date=14 June 2017|publisher=Vice|access-date=2017-10-09}}</ref>

Reflecting upon the aftermath of recording ''Acrobatic Tenement'', frontman [[Cedric Bixler-Zavala|Cedric Bixler]] recalled in 2013: "Before [the album's release], the band had broken up. We did a U.S. tour and we decided to split up. I always needed Jim to be there, but he'd had a falling out with [[Omar Rodríguez-López|Omar [Rodríguez-Lopez]]]. We'd made a bunch of dumb moves at the time—kicked the drummer [Ryan Sawyer] who was on the record out, and then the other guitar player [Adam Amparan]—but then [[Tony Hajjar|Tony [Hajjar]]] and [[Paul Hinojos|Paul [Hinojos]]] came and played. Omar switched to guitar at the time, because he played bass on that album, so when we played live, it was a lot different."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2013/04/cedric-bixler-zavala-at-the-drive-in-reissue-reunion-mars-volta-interview/|title=Cedric Bixler-Zavala Talks At the Drive-In Reissues, His Real Mars Volta Role|date=April 24, 2013|accessdate=November 15, 2019}}</ref>

Much of the album, particularly the track "Embroglio," was inspired by the life and suicide of Julio Venegas, a friend of the band. Venegas' death later inspired the [[concept album]] storyline of ''[[De-Loused in the Comatorium]]'', the debut album by Bixler and Rodríguez' subsequent project [[the Mars Volta]].<ref name="LA Weekly">{{cite web |last1=Diaconescu |first1=Sorina |date=26 June 2003 |title=Secrets Of The Sun |url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/secrets-of-the-sun-2136602 |accessdate=2003-07-26 |website=laweekly.com |publisher=LA Weekly}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| title1 = Star Slight
| length1 = 1:18
| title2 = Schaffino
| length2 = 2:49
| title3 = Embroglio
| length3 = 2:47
| title4 = Initiation
| length4 = 3:26
| title5 = Communication Drive-In
| length5 = 1:44
| title6 = Skips on the Record
| length6 = 3:07
| title7 = Paid Vacation Time
| length7 = 3:33
| title8 = Ticklish
| length8 = 4:35
| title9 = Blue Tag
| length9 = 3:17
| title10 = Coating of Arms
| length10 = 2:46
| title11 = Porfirio Diaz
| length11 = 2:58
| total_length = 32:20
}}

== Personnel ==
*[[Cedric Bixler-Zavala]] – lead vocals
*[[Jim Ward (musician)|Jim Ward]] – guitar, backing vocals
*Adam Amparan – guitar
*[[Omar Rodríguez-López]] – bass guitar
*Ryan Sawyer – drums

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{At the Drive-In}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1996 debut albums]]
[[Category:At the Drive-In albums]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Acrobatic Tenement