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Acrobatic Tenement
Studio album by At the Drive-In
Released	August 18, 1996
Recorded	July 1996
Studio	Commercial Soundworks (Hollywood)
Genre	Post-hardcore, emo
Length	32:20
Label	Flipside
Producer	Blaze James, Doug Green
At the Drive-In chronology
¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) Acrobatic Tenement (1996) El Gran Orgo (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Consequence of Sound	C+
Drowned in Sound	10/10
Pitchfork	6.5/10

Acrobatic Tenement is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on August 18, 1996, on Flipside. 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, after some of its editors saw the band perform in Los Angeles. The record was recorded at Commercial Soundworks in Hollywood for only $600 (equivalent to $1,166 in 2023) after the band concluded a tour of the United States. The album has been noted for its lack of guitar distortion, due to guitarist Jim Ward believing that his distortion-free recorded parts would not be used for the final master.

Reflecting upon the aftermath of recording Acrobatic Tenement, frontman Cedric Bixler recalled in 2013: "Before , 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 . We'd made a bunch of dumb moves at the time—kicked the drummer who was on the record out, and then the other guitar player —but then Tony and Paul 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."

Much of the album, particularly the track "Ebroglio," 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.

Track listing

Personnel

• Cedric Bixler-Zavala – lead vocals
• Jim Ward – guitar, backing vocals
• Adam Amparan – guitar
• Omar Rodríguez-López – bass guitar
• Ryan Sawyer – drums

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r350159
2. Bray, Ryan (7 March 2013). "At The Drive-In – Acrobatic Tenement [Reissue]". consequence.net. Consequence Of Sound. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
3. ^ Tarry, Lucy. "Album Review: At The Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement". drownedinsound.com. Drowned In Sound. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2002-07-03.
4. Cohen, Ian. "Double Review of Acrobatic Tenement and Relationship Of Command". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
5. "At the Drive-in". Archived from the original on 2000-04-22. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
6. DaRonco, Mike. "All Music Guide Biography". allmusic.com. All Music Guide. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
7. Cepeda, Eddie (2017-06-14) (14 June 2017). "At the Drive-In's 'El Gran Orgo' EP Captured a Band Struggling to Survive". noisey.vice.com. Vice. Retrieved 2017-10-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. "Cedric Bixler-Zavala Talks At the Drive-In Reissues, His Real Mars Volta Role". April 24, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
9. Diaconescu, Sorina (26 June 2003). "Secrets Of The Sun". laweekly.com. LA Weekly. Retrieved 2003-07-26.

• 1996 debut albums
• At the Drive-In albums