Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, 'Old Money'

The buzz: It's an acronym party, and everyone's invited! As part of At the Drive-In (ATDI) and the Mars Volta (TMV), guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (OR-L), 33, has established himself as one of modern rock’s most excitingly experimental wild men, twisting prog/rock/metal/whatchamacallit into dizzying psychedelic detours. His latest solo release is all-instrumental and features TMV members including bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, multi-instrumentalists Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez and Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez, plus drum work from TMV singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala (CB-Z). Fans of ATDI and TMV unfamiliar with OR-L’s solo stuff may miss the presence of CB-Z’s wailing vocals, until they remember that half the time the lyrics barely make any sense (as far as we can tell).

The verdict: While “Old Money” isn’t accessible in the way that, uh, the Fray are accessible, the record rarely inspires whiplash and keeps listeners grounded in instrumentals both focused and elongated, with plenty of opportunities to transpose stories onto them. “Population Council’s Wet Dream” is a mad funk freakout; it's followed by the gorgeous twinkle of “Private Fortunes”—a track which eerily conjures a sense of power that’s wandered beyond its boundaries…but could just as easily be a stoner’s hookup slow jam. The nine minute-plus title-track is an epic jam that, like almost all of “Old Money,” is an exhilarating exercise in drama and tension. And when shakers (real rattlers?) provide a feeling of danger to “Vipers in the Bosom,” they reveal something OR-L has in common with the greedy corporate types he opposes: The guitarist always seems primed to attack, if he hasn’t already.

Did you know? If you think “Old Money” might have made a solid Mars Volta record, there’s a reason for that. OR-L has suggested that the album could have been the follow-up to 2006’s “Amputechture” until he “changed his musical direction.” Whatever that means.

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