The cursed and awkward term "math rock progenitor" accurately applies to Don Caballero. It also seriously sells short the work and legacy of one of the '90's underground's most singular bands.
In the near-decade of its original incarnation, the band's four albums, multiple singles, and extensive touring blazed a path for generations of off-center instrumentally-oriented bands. Don Caballero conclusively proved that complex structures and dizzying time signature changes belonged in punk-rock inflected bands; that instrumental bands could be captivating, thrilling, and wildly entertaining live—and, above all, that bands really don't need singers.
To this day, they remain a key reference point, and wildly influential. It is very easy to trace Angine de Poitrine—particularly its rhythmic athleticism and the playfulness of its off-kilter guitar melodies—directly back to Don Caballero's output, and in particular the trio lineup that created its landmark LP American Don. Don Cab had staggering range, rocked hard, and was just as renowned for live shows that were as entertaining as they were ferocious. Don Cab also featured one of the era's greatest and most distinctive drummers, Damon Che.
Don Caballero started in Pittsburgh in 1991, with Mike Banfield on guitar, Che on drums, and Patrick Morris on bass. They released two singles on small labels the following year, and then made a noticeable leap forward with their 1993 album For Respect, for which Ian Williams joined on guitar and with which the band jumped to Touch and Go Records, home to the likes of The Jesus Lizard and Slint.
The band progressed dimensionally with 1995's double LP Don Caballero II, which amped up both the inherent wit of the band and its rhythmic and compositional and instrumental complexity. The band went on hiatus afterward—but the quartet lineup reconvened to make another leap forward with 1998's What Burns Never Returns, which layered on even more compositional complexity, and brought to the forefront the band's sure hand with more delicate structures and dynamics.
After that album, the band shrunk to a trio. Eric Emm took over on bass, and, after some touring and woodshedding on new material, they recorded the landmark American Don with Steve Albini and released it in in 2000. This album, which leaned heavily on Williams' guitar loops and Emm's bass loops, proved arguably the band's most realized and influential work. Unfortunately, internal tensions—often visible even to casual fans—were long an issue within the band, and they extracted their toll. After a lengthy stint touring before and after American Don's release—a stint that ended with a severe van crash on November 21, 2000, while en route to the tour's final show in Detroit—this lineup split up, this time for good.
Che reformed the band with another lineup for two more albums, 2005's World Class Listening Problem and 2008's Punkgasm, and later went on to the duo Yesness. Williams went on to lead the experimental rock group Battles and Emm formed the synth-pop-driven Tanlines.
But in the ensuing years, Don Caballero's stature and rep has only grown. The band was a linchpin for Nick Gomez's 2024 book Math Rock. A Don Caballero documentary is nearing completion; a book about them is also in the works.
– Jon Fine
