Music / Relationship of Command

In infrared is how we saw / The night that lit up scarecrow plots / The nerve that pinches / Crippled hobbled frolicked flat on its own face

Relationship of Command is the third studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on September 12, 2000. Highly anticipated with the release of their previous EP Vaya, this record was considered a improvement upon the sound they had formulated on previous records.

Hard-edged and emotive, it would initially be received positively upon its release. It wouldn't be until later on that the record would be considered a classic record within the emo and post-hardcore scenes and one of the greatest alternative rock records of the 2000s, with magazines such as NME declaring the record as one of "The Top 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade".

Tracklist

1. "Arcarsenal" (2:55)
2. "Pattern Against User" (3:17)
3. "One Armed Scissor" (4:19)
4. "Sleepwalk Capsules" (3:27)
5. "Invalid Litter Dept." (6:05)
6. "Mannequin Repulic" (3:02)
7. "Enfilade" (5:01)
8. "Rolodex Propaganda" (2:55)
9. "Quarantined" (5:24)
10. "Cosmonaut" (3:23)
11. "Non-Zero Possibility" (5:36)
12. "Extracurricular"* (3:59)
13. "Catacombs"* (4:14)

"*" = a track that wasn't on the initial release and/or was a bonus track upon re-release.

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Personnel

• Cedric Bixler-Zavala - lead vocals, guitar, melodica
• Omar Rodríguez-Lopez - guitar, backing vocals
• Jim Ward - guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Paul Hinojos - bass guitar
• Tony Hajjar - drums

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Failed transmisson from the one armed troper

• Broken Record: Multiple times on the record, specifically on tracks like "Arcarsenal", "Mannequin Repulic" and "Cosmonaut".
• Careful with That Axe: Several times, but particularly:
  • "Arcarsenal": BEWARE!! BEWARE!!!! BEWAAAAAAAAAAARRREEEEEEEEE!!
  • "One Armed Scissor": UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
  • The ending to "Invalid Litter Dept."
  • "Cosmonaut": IS IT HEAVIER THAN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR
• Emo: Considered a notable record within the its own "emocore" Sub-Genre, but notably came out around the time it's pop punk / post-hardcore second wave was gaining traction in the mainstream.
• Epic Rocking: "Invalid Litter Dept.", "Enfilade", "Quarantined" and "Non-Zero Possibility" all breach five minutes. "Enfilade" even does this by a second.
• Fading into the Next Song: "Enfilade"/"Rolodex Propaganda", and "Quarantined"/"Cosmonaut". "One Armed Scissor"/"Sleepwalk Capsules" does this in a strange way, in which, the ending of "One Armed Scissor" sounds like an intro for "Sleepwalk Capsules"
• Gratuitous Panning: "One Armed Scissor", "Enfilade" and "Rolodex Propaganda" do this splitting Ward's and Rodriguez-Lopez's guitar playing between the two channels.
• Longest Song Goes Last: Averted with "Invalid Litter Dept." being the fifth track and the longest at six minutes.
• New Sound Album: This record had much more influence from psychedelic rock and progressive rock than previous records.
• Post-hardcore: Considered a classic within the scene.
• Protest Song: "Invalid Litter Dept."
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • "Invalid Litter Dept." is written about a series of real-life rapes and murders in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, which is just across the Rio Grande from the band's hometown of El Paso, Texas. The song explicitly condemns the Mexican police, called federales, for their inaction in solving the crimes.
• Spoken Word in Music: "Enfilade" starts with a simulated ransom phone call, with Iggy Pop portraying a kidnapper.
• Word Salad Lyrics: It's a At the Drive-In record. What did you expect? Jawbreaker-esque lucidity?

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