When I was 18, my friends and I took a trip to Burbank. We roamed the city, ate hamburgers, and listened to a lot of “At The Drive-In.” The band later broke up so Omar Rodriguez Lopez could go batshit insane in northern Europe and make the album “Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo.” While there is a familiarity with “The Mars Volta,” not as many have heard the work of the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quintet (or whatever he’s calling it nowadays). Consider this your initiation:
Skyler Tanner 
Dude, Mars Volta De Loused in the Comatorium is the shit. One my top ten albums ever.