"Invalid Litter Dept." is a song by American rock band

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums ...

, released in 2001 as the third single from the album ''

Relationship of Command ''Relationship of Command'' is the third studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on September 12, 2000. The album combines an aggressive edge with a melodic drive, harmonious, emotive vocals, and surreal lyrics. Whil ...

''. The CD release in March 2001 came in a variety of international formats, including the standard two CDs in the United Kingdom. The Australian release included the UK B-sides from the two CD releases. "Invalid Litter Dept." is the band's highest charting single in the UK, peaking at No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 47 on the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

. The song's lyrics and music video deal with the Juárez femicides, a series of rapes and murders in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

, Mexico, of young women who worked in factories called

maquiladoras A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present throughout Latin Ameri ...

. Cd. Juárez is located just across the U.S.-Mexican border from

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, At the Drive-In's home town. The song explicitly criticizes the

federales ''Federales'' is a slang term in English language, English and Spanish languages referring to security forces, particularly those of the federal government of Mexico. The term gained widespread usage by English speakers due to being popularized ...

, or the Mexican Federal Police, for their lack of response to these cases. "Lamacq version" tracks originally broadcast on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's ''The Evening Session'' with

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with BBC Radio 6 Music. Lamacq was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire ( ...

, week beginning 11 September 2000, and produced/mixed by Simon Askew.

Track listing

U.S. / Australia CD

# "Invalid Litter Dept." – 6:07 # "Initiation" (Lamacq Version) – 3:36 # "Quarantined" (Lamacq Version) – 5:55 # " Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" – 5:05 # "Metronome Arthritis" – 4:03

UK 7-inch

# "Invalid Litter Dept." – 6:07 # "Initiation" (Lamacq version) – 3:36

UK CD1

# "Invalid Litter Dept." – 6:07 # "Initiation" (Lamacq version) – 3:36 # "Quarantined" (Lamacq version) – 5:55

UK CD2

# "Invalid Litter Dept." – 6:07 # "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" – 5:05 # "Metronome Arthritis" – 4:03 # "At the Drive-In TV Ad" (video starring Michael Diamond)

References

External links

* 2000 songs 2001 singles At the Drive-In songs Songs based on actual events Virgin Records singles Political songs {{2000s-US-single-stub