Sparta

This is Sparta. Sparta was a city-state in Ancient Greece known for its militaristic government led by Gerard Butler. Outdated jokes aside, Sparta was also a post-hardcore/alternative rock band that formed in El Paso, Texas in 2001. After the break-up of At The Drive-In, the band's former members wishbone-d into two halves. Vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez started prog rock band The Mars Volta, while the band's rhythm section became Spartans. They were guitarist/vocalist Jim Ward, bassist Paul Hinojos (who switched to guitar in Sparta), and drummer Tony Hajjar. After the band's first two records, Hinojos left the band and was replaced by Keeley Davis (who's actually playing guitar in At The Drive-In now in place of Jim Ward).

Naturally, with a similar line-up of At The Drive-In, Sparta definitely shares quite a bit in common with them. Though much more melodic, the dynamics, odd rhythms, and pulsating energy are all present here. Jim Ward's vocals take the forefront, which strike the exact balance between gruff delivery and catchy melody. Really the best thing to do is just listen to them, the songwriting is solid, and fans of good alternative rock will definitely dig it. Plus it does sound like a natural continuation to At The Drive-In, so they're a good fix until the new AtTDI album drops this year. Enjoy.

Austere (2002)

1. Mye

2. Cataract

3. Vacant Skies

4. Echodyne Harmonic (de-mix)

Wiretap Scars (2002)

1. Cut Your Ribbon

2. Air

3. Mye

4. Collapse

5. Sans Cosm

6. Light Burns Clear

7. Cataract

8. Red Alibi

9. Rx Coup

10. Glasshouse Tarot

11. Echodyne Harmonic

12. Assemble The Empire

Porcelain (2004)

1. Guns Of Memorial Park

2. Hiss The Villain

3. While Oceana Sleeps

4. La Cerca

5. Breaking The Broken

6. Lines In Sand

7. End Moraine

8. Death In The Family

9. Syncope

10. Tensioning

11. Travel By Bloodline

12. P.O.M.E.

13. From Now To Never

14. Splinters

15. Farewell Ruins (Bonus Track)

Threes (2006)

1. Untreatable Disease

2. Crawl

3. Unstitch Your Mouth

4. Taking Back Control

5. Erase It Again

6. Atlas

7. The Most Vicious Crime

8. False Start

9. Weather The Storm

10. Red.Right.Return. (Straight In Our Hands)

11. Without A Sound

12. Translations