Omar & Cedric: If This Ever Will get Bizarre is a brand new documentary about two lifelong pals.
Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are the fuse and the spark for 2 bands: first, On the Drive-In, after which, The Mars Volta. Omar strangles magic from the guitar. Cedric’s vocals vary from seedy punk into operatic convulsions. They are surely the most effective of pals. Cedric’s Yucko the Clown power sidled up subsequent to Omar’s calculated calm. That inventive fusion has all the time been on the entrance of each bands. The film was directed by Nicolas Jack Davies, who has accomplished music video and documentary work for Gorillaz, PJ Harvey, and Native Natives.
Omar has filmed his life since he was a boy. A lot of the movie is advised by way of his video collage. Guiding the viewer by way of is present-day narration by Omar and Cedric. It begins with the sudden rise of On the Drive-In, out of El Paso, Texas, to its equidistant fall. The post-hardcore group, beginning in 1994, is the place the 2 musicians’ union shaped and strengthened. There’s some cool footage of the recording periods for what can be their final album, Relationship of Command, in addition to the primary few from The Mars Volta.
The break-up of On the Drive-In 2001 was a shock not with out its private turmoil.
The remainder of the group, Paul Hinojos, Tony Hajjar and Jim Ward, had been left within the lurch. Afterwards, there was a gradual coalescing of musicians round Omar and Cedric that may type into their subsequent musical odyssey. Maintaining naked the punk component of ATDI, The Mars Volta would develop that formulation into galaxies. Their Latin background wiggled outward including a progressive rhythm that pushed them into completely different time signatures. Free from the constraints of the earlier group, they had been desirous to let songs spin right into a chaotic groove and get misplaced.
If This Ever Will get Bizarre will not be a straight retelling of band historical past, however extra a take a look at how that historical past can put a pressure on the relationships concerned. It covers the deaths of early Volta bandmates Jeremy Ward in 2003, and Isaiah “Ikey” Owens in 2014; Omar’s mom’s passing whereas the group was on hiatus; facet initiatives De Facto, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque; Cedric’s bout with Scientology; and the eventual reforming of Volta in 2022 after being silent for 9 years. There are weddings, lawsuits, addictions, pink carpets, and numerous untapped paranoia.
It’s a near-miracle when any respectable band can stick round and preserve longevity.
In 2012 On the Drive-In did a really brief reunion with the unique members, taking part in largely US festivals. The movie makes no point out of this and recasts their official reunion as being in 2016 once they did a extra expansive world tour. All for the lead-up to their fourth album, in•ter a•li•a, however the movie stops brief right here. At instances it was tough to inform who was narrating, however there isn’t a holding again once they do get in deep. Even with out seeing his face, you may hear the unhappy retching self-disappointment in Cedric’s voice when discussing his estrangement from Omar due to the grip Scientology had on him. Their friendship is one in every of blood and whole creativity, brothers within the sonic blast.
The documentary was first launched to the movie pageant circuit in 2023 and ‘24, however is now out there to stream. The Mars Volta’s seventh, self-titled album was launched in 2022, with a follow-up acoustic model titled, Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón, in 2023. They begin a North American tour subsequent month supporting Deftones.
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Went to See At The Drive-In & All I Acquired Was This Bruised Rib