Sparta

The first full-length release from El Paso, Texas-based Sparta tells you a lot about their roots in music.

When At The Drive-In disbanded in 2001, three of the members, along with a friend, quickly went to work on their latest project, releasing an EP earlier this year and Wiretap Scars just weeks ago.

ATDI backing-vocalist Jim Ward has taken over lead vocals in a more sedated manner then that of former-bandmate Cedric Bixler (now in Mars Volta), but the lyrical content and musical style pulsate through similar veins.

Wiretap Scars opens with the high-energy rock track “Cut Your Ribbon,” and is followed by the slightly more subdued “Air,” in which creating a life-ending disaster is found to be easier then making a life-changing decision.

The ups and downs of life along the U.S./Mexico border is a topic scattered throughout the album (“Cataract,” “Echodyne Harmonic”), while the seemingly autobiographical “Collapse,” “Red Alibi” and “Glasshouse Tarot” highlight the 12-song set.