Acrobatic Tenement

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title: "Acrobatic Tenement" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1996-debut-albums", "at-the-drive-in-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrobatic_Tenement" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album|"]

Field	Value
name	Acrobatic Tenement
type	Album
artist	At the Drive-In
cover	At the Drive-In - Acrobatic Tenement cover.jpg
released	August 18, 1996
recorded	July 1996
studio	Commercial Soundworks (Hollywood)
genre
length	32:20
label	Flipside
producer	Blaze James, Doug Green
prev_title	¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!
prev_year	1995
next_title	El Gran Orgo
next_year	1997
::

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.

Background and recording

Then bass player Omar Rodríguez-Lopez has noted that the recording of Acrobatic Tenement was the band's first time recording at a twenty-four track studio, that they only had a total of three days in the studio, and the band engaged in alcohol and cannabis use, all of which he argues had a detrimental effect on the album. 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. Acrobatic Tenement was recorded at Commercial Soundworks in Hollywood for only $600 () after the band concluded a tour of the United States.

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.

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 ]. 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."

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.

Track listing

Personnel

Cedric Bixler-Zavala – lead vocals
Jim Ward – guitar, backing vocals
Adam Amparan – guitar
Omar Rodríguez-López – bass guitar
Ryan Sawyer – drums

References

{{AllMusic
(7 March 2013). "At The Drive-In – Acrobatic Tenement [Reissue]". Consequence Of Sound.
"Album Review: At The Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement". Drowned In Sound.
"Double Review of Acrobatic Tenement and Relationship Of Command". Pitchfork.
"At the Drive-in".
(1999). "At the Drive-In".
(14 June 2017). "At the Drive-In's 'El Gran Orgo' EP Captured a Band Struggling to Survive". Vice.
"All Music Guide Biography". All Music Guide.
(April 24, 2013). "Cedric Bixler-Zavala Talks At the Drive-In Reissues, His Real Mars Volta Role".
(26 June 2003). "Secrets Of The Sun". LA Weekly.

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