We here at West Coast Sound, existing as we do at the geographic crossroads of the music biz and the film industry, like to make a point of keeping readers abreast of inspired audio/visual intersections.

For instance, exactly one month ago, we alerted you to yet another outgrowth of Maynard James Keenan's exceptional hubris (and also, his sense of humor). We've also made a point of following the budding on-screen bromance of Snoop Dogg, Mayer Hawthorne and Diplo.

Well, another of L.A.'s most prolific music-makers is venturing into the feature film world. The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez Lopez (who has retired the dash and accents previously adorning his surnames) has just released the trailer for The Sentimental Engine Slayer, which he wrote and directed, to debut at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands on February 4.

Catch the trailer and learn more about the film after the jump.

Evidently this is actually ORL's third film, but as neither 2001's A Manual Dexterity (also the title of a solo album) nor 2003's Letters from Dystopia were ever released publicly, they don't really count. TSES was shot on location in At The Drive-In's old stomping grounds, El Paso. Here's more:

The Sentimental Engine Slayer tells the tale of the overdue coming of age of a 20-something misfit named Barlam (played by Omar Rodriguez Lopez). Set against the backdrop of drug-addled suburban El Paso sometime in the not-too-distant future, Barlam's awkward transition from boy to man is as much the story of struggling to find one's essence in a world of stereotypes as it is an indictment of the distorted reality of family life in the disengaged 21st Century. For a more detailed plot synopsis, please see the film's IMDB page.

You can find said synopsis, written by former GSL Records head and current go-to ORL cover artist Sonny Kay, here. According to the IMDB page, Kay plays a cop in the film, while one of ORL's little brothers got stuck with the role of “Tap Prostitute 1.” Burn. Oh, and John Frusciante is listed, on the poster, as executive producer.

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