The Mars Volta Get Their Octahedron On.

I picked that from a series of crappy titles for this post. Let me share them with you. The Volta drop their Zoso. Or, get their plant and krauss on. Wait, that's retarded, and somewhat redundant. Okay, fine, they just wish you were here. Yeah, these were the good ones. I don't think I will do another silly title from this point forward. Keep an eye on me.

But you get the point, right? As always, TMV flex their mutated brand of classic/prog rock, but this time without that atypical skinny bad boy aggro routine. Once the first chord rises into being over two minutes before a somber acoustic guitar arrives to widen the shot, so to speak, you know this is not going to be the standard TMV. This is not to say that there aren't some bangers on this record, surely Cotopaxi will get your body to move, and please keep in mind that Omar's been quoted as describing Octahedron as their version of an acoustic album, but not an acoustic album per se.

So yeah, there's going to be some electro stuff here, too, but, for what it's worth, his description is accurate. The overall feel of it is eerie and desperate, with an anger much much more subtle. Pridgin definitely hangs back, proving his well-roundedness. And when you listen, while the band still plays most of the same old tricks, you must appreciate its focus on harmonic design: major/minor chord progressions, testing the threshold of key, songs that build compositionally along with sonic textures and atmosphere. (My one caveat is that, occasionally, Mr. Bixler-Z's emotive crooning and off-putting lyrics step over from brilliant to sentimental.)

Probably the most intriguing and central bit* of the record is that very first chord that lies underneath the songs, rushing one off the stage before summoning the next, like a musical usher. That chord, in a sense, ties the record together by being the liminal lattice for a handful of cuts that, stand alone, are quite separate from each other. While this chord is probably only loosely tied to the musical representation of an octahedron, it is part and parcel of a whole post-modern thematic: said octahedron appears on the cover and in the subject matter as well.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Great analysis there, pal, but what's the bottom line? Here it is: this new collection of tracks will not floor you, but they are certainly precious. If you love TMV, you will love it. If you like TMV and want more of their insanity, pick up Omar's Cryptomnesia instead. That shit is fucked up!

*This is one of the things I love about Mars Volta - you always learn about something you've never heard of, or discover something you learned about which you've completely forgot. Check out octahedron on wikipedia. Then check out cryptomnesia. Can you tell that I love wikipedia? Go donate.