Bands That Were Destroyed by Mainstream Popularity: Death From Above 1979 vs. At the Drive-In

Before we even get started here, I want to make it perfectly clear that this is not an obnoxious "fuck commercial radio" type of post. I have listened to commercial radio in the past, will probably do so in the future, and if I was in a band, I would want Flow or Jack or 102.1 to play my song with every fibre of my being.

That said, sometimes mainstream success is a little too much for some bands. They may not have the personalities to stay level headed when getting money thrown at them, or they may just get to the top and realize they liked it better at the bottom.

Death from Above 1979 and At the Drive-In were two of my favourite bands in university. When they started to get mainstream airplay, I made a conscious effort not to do the indie snob thing and abandon them because other people were listening to them. In retrospect, I probably should have, because both bands imploded within a year of getting popular.

The Main Event

In the red corner, from Toronto, with post break-up projects consisting of MSTRKRFT and Sebastien Grainger and Les Montagnes, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979!

Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger formed Death from Above in 2001. In 2003, they were sued by the DFA record label and were forced to change their name. They added the 1979 for Keeler and Granger's year of birth. In 2004, the release I'm a Woman, You're a Machine, their only full length album. After getting about six months of solid burn from Pitchfork et al. they started to solid play on MuchMusic and MTV. They spent 2005 touring almost non-stop. In August 2006, Keeler posted the following message on the band's website.

"I know its been forever since I wrote anything on here. I'm sure by now most of you assume the band isn't happening anymore since there are no shows, no work on a new album, etc. well. I wanted to let you know that your assumptions are correct. We decided to stop doing the band... Actually we decided that almost a year ago. We finished off our scheduled tour dates because there were good people working for us who relied on us to make a living and buy Christmas presents and pay rent etc. We couldn't just cancel everything and leave them out to dry... Plus I think we wanted to see if we would reconsider after being out on the road. Our label was really hoping that we would change our minds, so they asked us to keep quiet about the decision for at first. Well, it's been quite a while now and we are still very sure the band won't happen again, so I guess it's time to say something."

Shortly after the breakup, Status Ain't Hood's Tom Briehan, who I usually really enjoy, eulogized them as "a band based on being assholes."

I saw them live twice and met them once. They were two of the nicest, most down-to-Earth musicians I'd ever met. They were also one of the loudest, most active live acts I'd ever seen. That's including Rancid, Iron Maiden and Bad Brains. For two guys, they managed to produce an ungodly quantity of sound.

This is the video for "Pull Out." It's two minutes long, it makes me seasick and it's awesome.



The Opponent

In the blue corner, from El Paso, Texas, with post-break up projects consisting of Sparta and The Mars Volta, AT THE DRIIIIVE IN!

At the Drive-In were founded in 1993. They once lied and said they were a polka band to get on local TV. Much like Death from Above 1979, they built their reputation on an energetic live show and heavy touring.

After spending much of the 1990s toiling in the hardcore scene, the band achieved mainstream success in 2000 with the album Relationship of Command and the single "One Armed Scissor."

In 2001, the band started to fracture. Frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez wound up getting the bulk of the newfound fame due to their exciting haircuts. Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez wanted to move the band in a more prog-rock direction, while the other three guys, lead by guitarist and co-founder Jim Ward, wanted to keep making Fugazi-esque post hardcore. Finally, Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez had developed massive crack and heroin habits, causing them to fuck up constantly, both on and off stage.

At the 2001 Big Day Out festival, Cedric shouted at the crowd and walked off stage 15 minutes into the band's set. The next month, the band went on "indefinite hiatus." Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez started The Mars Volta and made the sort of obnoxious wank rock they'd always dreamed of making, while Ward, bassist Paul Hinojos and drummer Tony Hajjar started Sparta.

This is the video for "One Armed Scissor." It's just a bunch of live clips, but God damn it's exciting.



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