Sparta (Spring Green Colour Vinyl)
Sparta is the eponymous fifth studio album from the El Paso, TX band, fronted by At The Drive In’s Jim Ward.
Ward founded Sparta after At the Drive-In called it quits (the first time, in 2001), but after three albums—not to mention one of the best covers of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle”—the band kind of just faded away without fanfare after the release of 2006’s third LP, Threes.
It took 14 years for Sparta, in somewhat altered form, to return with 2020’s fourth album Trust the River, but they’re already back again with its follow-up. And although now just a two-piece comprised of Ward and bassist Matt Miller, Sparta is very much a full-band album.
