Useless Entertainment: #29 Sparta - Threes

This is the third album by the underrated half of At the Drive-In (for the overrated half, see The Mars Volta). I would describe this album as At the Drive-In’s “In Casino Out” without the crazy aspects and abstract lyrics. I was hit out of nowhere by this album. I had no idea it was coming out and then…BAM!, it hits me. The disc entered my car stereo while leaving Best Buy and stayed there for a few weeks. The album shifts gears from moderate to fast paced but always manages to rock. On each album, Sparta always manages to create a mood that slowly transforms from one of urgency to one filled with hope. The album starts off in a hurry and pulls you through each song, but by the end it’s as if the listener is floating through the music without a care (with a few bumps along the way). This was a pleasant surprise in a year when my attention was focused more on bands that I had been anticipating for months and even years.

Highlights:
Crawl
Atlas
Red.Right.Return. (Straight In Our Hands)

Favorite Lyrics:

“The difference between
finding what you love,
and loving what you've found
Is killing us right now”

# posted by Steve @ 12:31 AM