Thanks to Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s inability to write lyrics that make any literal sense whatsoever, the burden of bringing narrative coherence to the Mars Volta’s interstellar, prog-funk finger paintings falls to the band’s pedal-prone guitarist. Rodriguez-Lopez is certainly as capable of extended absurdity as his falsetto-voiced partner, but the largely instrumental Old Money recalls the compact fury that made De-Loused in the Comatorium so exciting: The robo-insect sound effects, spaghetti-western noodling, and double-time drumming only sometimes tip from dazzling to exhausting.
