Don Cab

This review of a Don Caballero album on Amazon says it all really..What a band...

"How to describe Don Caballero's sound? There isn't much like it to provide a frame of reference, so it's not easy. Well, here goes: throw the sounds of Helmet, Mogwai, Slint, Drive Like Jehu, Sonic Youth, The Mars Volta, and Shellac into a blender, remove all vocals, add a mad genius of a drummer who sounds sort of like Elvin Jones (of John Coltrane fame) on methamphetamines, and you'll get a fair idea. With 2, the virtuosos of Don Cab created a monster of an album, one that bends minds as easily as it bends genres with its highly distinctive blend of fusion, metal, and prog. The compositions ("songs" doesn't quite feel like the right word, thanks) here veer between extended, multi-faceted epics that straddle the ten-minute mark and shorter, sharper pieces, but no matter the track length 2 showcases some dazzlingly complex structures that never fail to make heads spin with their consistent unpredictability. Now, before I go any further, I should stress that whatever else it may be, 2 is not an exercise in gratuitious technical wankery a la the more grandiose moments in Dream Theather's catalogue. And despite the band's all-instrumental approach, this in no way falls into the post-rock category that's become so fashionable of late; the sheer intensity of this recording would be more than sufficient to blast the likes of Explosions in the Sky into submission (not to say EITS aren't a good band; they very much are). At all points, 2 is a focused, aggressive, and measured display of technical wizardry that's at least as much about creativity as virtuosity. If your brain isn't engaged while listening to this stuff, you might've hit the "off" button on it by mistake. Of course, given their prodigious chops, the guys in Don Cab could be forgiven if they decided to show off a little. I've listened to tons of music from various genres, and these guys can easily hang with any band I've ever heard when it comes to musical skeelz. Drummer Damon Che gets a great deal of the attention when Don Cab is discussed, and rightfully...."Read On

Don Cab album here


01 - Chief Sitting Duck> 08-Mar-2005 20:44 3.9M
02 - please tokio, please THIS IS TOKIO..> 08-Mar-2005 22:42 17.9M
03 - P,P,P, antless.mp3 08-Mar-2005 19:12 6.2M