Omar & Cedric: If This Ever Will get Bizarre is a brand new documentary about two lifelong buddies.
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 one of the best of buddies. Cedric’s Yucko the Clown vitality sidled up subsequent to Omar’s calculated calm. That artistic fusion has at all times been on the entrance of each bands. The film was directed by Nicolas Jack Davies, who has finished 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 instructed 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 may be some cool footage of the recording classes 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, have been left within the lurch. Afterwards, there was a gradual coalescing of musicians round Omar and Cedric that will type into their subsequent musical odyssey. Retaining naked the punk component of ATDI, The Mars Volta would increase that formulation into galaxies. Their Latin background wiggled outward including a progressive rhythm that pushed them into totally different time signatures. Free from the constraints of the earlier group, they have been desperate to let songs spin right into a chaotic groove and get misplaced.
If This Ever Will get Bizarre shouldn’t 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 tasks 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, purple carpets, and loads of untapped paranoia.
It’s a near-miracle when any respectable band can stick round and keep longevity.
In 2012 On the Drive-In did a really brief reunion with the unique members, enjoying largely US festivals. The movie makes no point out of this and recasts their official reunion as being in 2016 after 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 troublesome to inform who was narrating, however there isn’t a holding again after they do get in deep. Even with out seeing his face, you possibly can 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 complete creativity, brothers within the sonic blast.
The documentary was first launched to the movie competition circuit in 2023 and ‘24, however is now obtainable 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 Obtained Was This Bruised Rib