The Mars Volta – Octahedron

I’d like to present Exhibit A: The Mars Volta’s new album Octahedron. Dubbed an acoustic/pop project by Omar Rodríguez-López, the eight track follow up to The Bedlam in Goliath doesn’t exactly play true to the artist’s intention. There is a plainness here that’s enough to make the De-Loused apologist shift in their seat. At points it feels like an anti-pop album more than a sincere attempt at a pop album. An anti album-album you say?

Take the very beginning: a barely audible drone reminiscent of some cheap Pink Floyd effect. Inwardly I chuckle and then rub my hands together in anticipation of one of those signature crescendos. But the uncomfortably low drone goes on until 1:36. One minute and thirty six seconds I’m sitting there: Aaaaaaand now! Aaaaannndd now! Aaaannnddd…now? Finally Cedric Bixler-Zavala comes in over Rodríguez-López on the acoustic and I’m somewhat placated. And then it hits me. The chorus for “Since We’ve Been Wrong” is the blandest I’ve ever witnessed on a Mars Volta album. But the drums haven’t come in yet. Surely drummer Thomas Pridgen will slam in with some machine gun entrance fill. Nope! But wait, let’s make it worse and arrange some cheesy ass electric ballad guitar behind the chorus. That’ll really make the listener cringe!

“Teflon” is a decent groove if not for the entrance of a guitar effect that strangely mimics the sound of Super Mario jumping. Then there’s the matter of the chorus: “What am I without the bruises?” Jesus…I didn’t know Fallout Boy was guess starring on this album. A recurring image (wheels burning) surfaces from “Day of the Baphomets” on Amputechture, and this happens a few more times throughout the rest of the album. Is Bixler- Zavala recycling images on Octahedron? Are they dulled down for “popular” appeal? The images are still quite dark and twisted, but nowhere near as visceral as previous albums. This can’t just be an album of B -sides though, can it?

“Halo of Nembutals” picks up where “Teflon” left off, plain and decent, things picking up a little. And then we arrive at “With Twilight as My Guide,” one of the few tracks that fit in with the motif of a pop acoustic album. It’s well arranged, not over produced and Cedric hits the high notes - almost reminiscent of “Televators,” though I shy from making such inevitable comparisons. But the next track, “Cotopaxi,” is the real nexus of the album, coming out of nowhere like a fucking raging meteor on a trajectory for the Yucatan. This is the bar and it’s made plain to see. It doesn’t even feel like it belongs on the album. So why the hell did they release “Cotopaxi,” the best song on the album, overseas, and “Since We’ve Been Wrong,” the worst song, in the States? Is “SWBW” an apocalyptic commentary or an ironic jab at their ineptitude to create?

“Desperate Graves” courses along the vein of “Halo of Nembutals,” only to fall into the useless gulch that is “Copernicus.” Midway through “Copernicus” it sounds like Rodriguez-Lopez fiddles with some knobs and then requests a piano solo because he has an inexplicable desire for ivory. Recovering from “Copernicus” is “Luciforms,” the last of the redemptive qualities on this album. Here, a morose bass trudges below a smacked cymbal/snare that builds into a frantic release of Rodríguez-López on the electric. When the real Volta rear their head, they elevate far above any of the other more mundane “pop” moments. To their credit, they are more restrained on Octahedron, though it could have been possible to find some middle ground between the plainness of this album and the verve of their previous work. If their chief goal is to evolve every album, Octahedron went in a reverse vector brimming with frustration and bitterness toward the creation process. There are some fans that have been waiting for another De-Loused, but it ain’t coming. We’re just going to have to wait and see what evolves.

Label: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 06/23/09

-Seth Fraser