With its cryptic name, a fearless sound, and darkly dreamy cover artwork, there can be little doubt of the influence of the prog-rock titan The Mars Volta on the instrumental quartet Zechs Marquise. And it should come as little surprise that it's also a family influence.
Zechs Marquise will perform at Mixtapes in East Moline on Monday, and two of its members - brothers Marfred and Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez - are the siblings of The Mars Volta mastermind Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. (Marcel also plays with The Mars Volta.)
The shared genetics and tastes are evident on Zechs Marquise's studio debut, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare. The music of both The Mars Volta and Zechs Marquise is a shadowy, dense, free-flowing stew flavored with the salsa music of their parents as well as jazz but based mostly on psychedelic and progressive rock. Both bands often float around without anchors.
That's frequently a curse for The Mars Volta, whose albums since De-Loused in the Comatorium have retained the aesthetic of that debut yet have felt airless and closed. It seems like a blessing on the Zechs Marquise record, which has a patience often lacking in The Mars Volta.
