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 Don
Caballero
Don Caballero was formed in Pittsburgh
in 1991 by drummer Damon Che (Damon Fitzgerald), guitarists
Ian Williams and Mike Banfield, and bassist Pat Morris.
Individual veterans of the local scene, they had offers
for gigs before they'd even found a lead singer, and
simply wound up remaining instrumental. Through some
personal contacts, the band got a chance to enter the
studio with producer Steve Albini, who recommended them
to Touch & Go Records. Don Caballero released several
singles on Touch & Go before completing their Steve
Albini-produced debut, For Respect, in 1993. Don Caballero
2, a loud, ugly, intricate album that was released to
rapturous reviews in 1995. Hailed as a math rock landmark
in some quarters, 2 expanded the group's audience by
leaps and bounds. A compilation of Don Caballero's early
formative singles appeared in 1999, under the title
Singles Breaking Up, Vol. 1 (a reference to the Buzzcocks'
Singles Going Steady). In 2000, the group issued its
fourth proper album, the cleaner-sounding and more subdued
American Don, which again won complimentary reviews.
However, intra-band tensions conspired to break up the
group by 2001. Don Caballero reformed with an entirely
new lineup in 2006, merging himself into a Pittsburgh-based
Don Cab-influenced math rock outfit formerly known as
Creta Bourzia. The group returned in 2006 with World
Class Listening Problem on the Relapse label. 2008 a
new episode starts with their new album "Punkgasm".
Don Caballero, propelled, as always by drumming virtuoso
Damon Che, twists and turns through fourteen new tracks.
Punkgasm explodes with all of the bands legendary trademarks:
wildly inventive poly-rhythms; layers of looping guitar
acrobatics; rich melodies and textures; and expansive
compositions that evolve and unfold from start to finish.
The albums more relaxed feel sees the band pushing their
sound in a host of surprising new directions to create
an album as equally gratifying on its first listen as
its 50th. Punkgasm is a celebration of Don Caballero
at its finest!
Links
http://www.myspace.com/doncaballeropgh
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