Influenced primarily by the likes of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi_%28band%29" title="Fugazi band - Fugazi and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_Like_Jehu" title="Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu , as well as their native Texas hardcore scene, At The Drive-in crafted epic, post-hardcore and sometimes almost stadium rock-like songs with very complex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signatures" title="Time signatures - time signatures and extremely poetic, cryptic lyrics. ATDI's first studio recording was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Paso" title="Hell Paso - Hell Paso (Western Breed), an EP issued in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_in_music" title="1994 in music - 1994 . They quickly developed a following as intense in loyalty as the band was on stage. At the Drive-In's reputation for super-high-energy live performances outlived the band's career. It was this reputation, the release of perhaps their best-known album, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Command" title="Relationship of Command - Relationship of Command ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_in_music" title="2000 in music - 2000 ) and their small hit radio single "One Armed Scissor" (which had a music video in circulation on MTV) that contributed largely to the very positive attention they received in the rock press towards the end of their career. Spin Magazine named http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Command" title="Relationship of Command - Relationship of Command one of their top 10 albums of that year. The band also appeared on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Night_With_Conan_O%27Brien" title="Late Night With Conan O'Brien - Late Night With Conan O'Brien and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Show_With_David_Letterman" title="The Late Show With David Letterman - The Late Show With David Letterman performing their single One Armed Scissor on national television. According to some sources, At the Drive-In struggled to recreate their intense live experience in the studio. At one point they tried to circumvent this problem by recording their second CD, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In/Casino/Out" title="In/Casino/Out - In/Casino/Out ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_in_music" title="1998 in music - 1998 ), as a live studio album.In contrast to the bands first album acrobatic tenament which although undoubtedly a hardcore punk album lacked the energy seen in later works

Not only notoriously energetic and wild at shows, At the Drive-In were noted by the music press for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro" title="Afro - afros of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedric_Bixler_Zavala" title="Cedric Bixler Zavala - Cedric Bixler Zavala and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Rodriguez-Lopez" title="Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez . The hairstyle became synonymous with the pair's image. However, the two have been very vocal about image, Omar said in one interview "I hate photoshoots, I get so bored. The way I look has nothing to do with the music I make, so who cares if I have big glasses and an afro? People should just put on our cd."