Album Review: Getting Paid by Zechs Marquise

At the Drive-In/Mars Volta guitarist and musical auteur Omar Rodriguez-Lopez doesn't contribute to this sophomore album by the band led by his brothers -- Manfred on bass and drummer/keyboardist Marcel (other brother Rikardo joined after this recording was complete) -- but he green lit it for his label. The predominantly instrumental set is a jittery and expertly produced collection of prog/space rock featuring bubbly keyboards, hyperactive tempos, and clattering, occasionally funky percussion. The songs range from five-seven minutes, but they are packed with changes, layered instruments, and enough ideas to extend them a lot longer.

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If you’re a fan of progressive rock but you get impatient when the vocals kick in to interrupt the instrumental noodling, then Zechs Marquise is the band for you. The quartet relies upon the usual guitars/keyboards/bass/drums template to create its sound, with vocals kept to a minimum so as not to interfere with the constant shifts in tempo and rhythm. With most songs on Getting Paid in the six-to-eight minute range, there’s plenty of room for such shifts.

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What is it about the Rodriguez-Lopez brood that enables such prodigious levels of music? Just trying to keep track of Omar’s output as a solo artist and as the guitarist for At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta is laborious enough, let alone his myriad collaborations and ventures into production. Dude’s also got three brothers who happened to take up the family business, the most famous being percussionist Marcel – a multi-instrumentalist who’s logged countless hours in both the Mars Volta and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group. Along with sibling bassist Marfred, Marcel formed Zechs Marquise two years ago under the auspices of his older brother.

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