In 1998, At The Drive-In was in limbo. They were between labels after the two labels that put out their previous records, Flipside who released Acrobatic Tenement in 1996, and the lesser-known Offtime Records was behind the band’s 1997 EP El Gran Orgo were both in no position financially to be betting on a small punk band from El Paso, Texas. The band was lost souls wandering around with a collection of songs and considering taking the independent route until the good people at Fearless Records stepped up to help fund the release of In/Casino/Out, the band’s second full-length LP.
This album, originally released 25 years ago on 8/18/98 captures a unique moment in At The Drive-In’s career. After relentless touring schedules and frustration boiling over within the band leading to the short departure of guitarist Jim Ward, In/Casino/Out marks the return of Ward and the original line-up working together again. The album was recorded live in hopes the band could capture the energy of their tiring tours. You can hear that energy echo through these 11 songs which still hold up all these years later.
In/Casino/Out shows the band in-between sonic worlds. It is not as lo-fi and gritty as their previous releases but still isn’t as polished as the band’s opus, 2000’s Relationship of Command. Instead, At The Drive-In was coming off of insanely long tours that left them drained and exhausted creatively. They were struggling to capture the magic of their critically acclaimed live shows on a record and thus, the mission for their second LP was born. The band recorded every note on In/Casino/Out live at the Harddrive Analog Studio located in North Hollywood with the help of Alex Newport and Doug Messenger. The results were filled with so much emotional energy and pure thrashing that the album still feels like a therapy session for a band in the midst of a meltdown and over two decades later, that emotion never lost its edge.
The unfiltered punk of In/Casino/Out jumps out of your speakers and explodes in a rainbow of distortion. Recording everything in one room at once felt like the final piece to At The Drive-In’s creative puzzle. This method allowed their pure, youthful energy to be the driving factor of these songs and produced some of the band’s most underrated moments. The unique structure and immense passion of “Shaking Hand Incision” might not have sounded so urgent if those neck-breaking drums had the chance to be recorded over and over again. The imperfections of this album are what makes it so memorable, by putting their flaws as a band under a microscope they were able to capture something magical while attempting to correct these issues. The rawness of the vocals on “Napoleon Solo” adds a layer of palpable emotions to the moving poetry and the immediate chaos of “Pickpocket” might have felt more controlled if the band went the traditional recording act. The warmth of the analog recording cuts through the walls of sound the band put together for their second LP, creating a sonic juxtaposition so infectious it can, and will, be felt for decades to come.
At The Drive-In has released better and more critically acclaimed albums since 1998’s In/Casino/Out, but this record holds a special place in the band’s lure. Even as the band itself evolved and eventually broke off into the more popular off-shoot, Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s prog-rock outfit The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In’s second LP will forever hint at the band’s eventual creative pinnacle. By rearranging their recording method they landed on a sound so visceral it feels like you’re listening to a whole new band. At The Drive-In’s In/Casino/Out may not be the fan favorite of the band but the pure passion and timeless creativity of these songs allow the listener to feel like they’re sitting right in the studio watching a young band hit a new artistic merit.
