| Acrobatic Tenement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 18, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | July 1996 | |||
| Studio | Commercial Soundworks (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Post-hardcore, emo, punk rock | |||
| Length | 32:20 | |||
| Label | Flipside | |||
| Producer | Blaze James, Doug Green | |||
| At the Drive-In chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Consequence of Sound | C+[2] |
| Drowned in Sound | 10/10[3] |
| Pitchfork | 6.5/10[4] |
Acrobatic Tenement is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on August 18, 1996, on Flipside.[5] 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.
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.[6] The record was recorded at Commercial Soundworks in Hollywood for only $600 (equivalent to $1,203 in 2024) after the band concluded a tour of the United States.[3] 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.[7]
Reflecting upon the aftermath of recording Acrobatic Tenement, frontman Cedric Bixler recalled in 2013: "Before [the album's release], 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 [Rodríguez-Lopez]. We'd made a bunch of dumb moves at the time—kicked the drummer [Ryan Sawyer] who was on the record out, and then the other guitar player [Adam Amparan]—but then Tony [Hajjar] and Paul [Hinojos] 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."[8]
Much of the album, particularly the track "Embroglio," 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.[9]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Star Slight" | 1:18 |
| 2. | "Schaffino" | 2:49 |
| 3. | "Embroglio" | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Initiation" | 3:26 |
| 5. | "Communication Drive-In" | 1:44 |
| 6. | "Skips on the Record" | 3:07 |
| 7. | "Paid Vacation Time" | 3:33 |
| 8. | "Ticklish" | 4:35 |
| 9. | "Blue Tag" | 3:17 |
| 10. | "Coating of Arms" | 2:46 |
| 11. | "Porfirio Diaz" | 2:58 |
| Total length: | 32:20 | |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
