At the Drive In _ Acrobatic Tenement (1996) Recorded From Vinyl - Full length Album HD

Acrobatic Tenement is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on February 18, 1997, on Flipside.[5] The album was reissued by Fearless Records in 2004, along with the band's subsequent albums In/Casino/Out and Relationship of Command, and was re-released again in 2013.

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
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.[6] The record was recorded at Commercial Soundworks in Hollywood for only $600 (equivalent to $1,120 in 2022) after the band concluded a tour of the United States.[3] 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.[7]

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 Omar [Rodríguez-Lopez]. 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."[8]

Much of the album, particularly the track "Ebroglio," 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.[9]

Track listing
No. Title Length
1. "Star Slight" 1:18
2. "Schaffino" 2:49
3. "Ebroglio" 2:47
4. "Initiation" 3:26
5. "Communication Drive-In" 1:44
6. "Skips on the Record" 3:07
7. "Paid Vacation Time" 3:33
8. "Ticklish" 4:35
9. "Blue Tag" 3:17
10. "Coating of Arms" 2:46
11. "Porfirio Diaz" 2:58
Total length: 32:20
Personnel
Cedric Bixler – lead vocals
Jim Ward – guitar, backing vocals
Adam Amparan – guitar
Omar Rodríguez – bass guitar
Ryan Sawyer – drums