I loved At The Drive-In, can't stand The Mars Volta though. Never listened to sparta, i'll have to give them a chance if they sound like At The Drive-In.
You ever hear of Boy Hits Car? they were around a few years back and put on an amazing live show and had some good tunes. Kind of like At The Drive-In. Check out their page
http://www.boyhitscar.com/ not sure what they are up to, think they had some troubles with band members, might be broken up. Have all their songs on their page in decent quality.. I suggest "As I Watch The Sun Fuck the Ocean"