Where's THEIR heads at?!!

OK, so I've just been giving the Mars Volta album its first spin, and here are some initial thoughts:

They've evidently decided that the material on last year's 'Tremulant' EP was too conventional... The LP is full of clanking, buzzing and bizarre syncopated rhythms that occasionally and suddenly coalesce and explode into real, genuine SONGS - albeit ones that sound nigh-on impossible, like someone's placed a fucking huge free jazz bomb under a hardcore band (well, that would go some way to explaining the hair, at least...).

Is it insanely ambitious, or is it irredeemably pretentious? Only time will tell. For the time being, though, I'm off for a long lie down.

(If you're wondering what this might sound like in concert, let Olav tell you.)