At The Drive-In

• Cedric Bixler - vocals
• Omar Rodriguez - guitar
• Jim Ward - guitar
• Paul Hinojos - bass
• Tony Hajjar - drums

When El Paso's At The Drive-In were suddenly hailed as the most important American band since Nirvana, years of hard touring and a slew of low-key releases seemed to have paid off.

Signed to the Beastie Boys' own Grand Royal imprint and with LP Relationship Of Command flying from shops like money was going out of fashion, the world was seemingly at their feet.

However, sales, success and ATD-I's punk ethics were not a happy mix. And, on the verge of becoming one of the largest rock bands on the globe, they imploded; splitting down the middle with rumours of fist fights and huge fallouts.

Afro-haired front duo Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Alfredo Rodriguez-Lopez recently resurfaced as the driving force behind prog-hardcore crew The Mars Volta, while the remaining ATD-I members regrouped as Sparta.