Innovators of math rock set to rock the ‘Burgh tonight

Damon Che and the Pittsburgh-based Don Caballero ensemble will be rocking the Rex Theater this… Damon Che and the Pittsburgh-based Don Caballero ensemble will be rocking the Rex Theater this Thursday along with Damon’s former project, Thee Speaking Canaries.

Che is something of a drumming god. The man they’ve dubbed “octopus” slams the skins for Don Caballero. He gained this title for sounding like he had eight limbs, as he is capable of playing the most complex percussion figures in odd-metered time signatures with ease. Throughout the group’s career, Don Caballero’s competition has been nearly. As a band that revamped a subgenre of rock that constantly changes time signatures in an intelligent manner — math rock — the band managed to put out several releases with major underground success. Steve Albini (Shellac, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins) even produced their first record.

It’s impossible to pigeonhole the band other than in the terms of “instrumental” and “math rock.” Whether you prefer short and heavy (For Respect), fast and heavy (II), melodic and fast (What Burns Never Returns), or pensive and drawn-out (American Don), you cannot go wrong with anything in their discography.

Don Cab, as they are often called, decided to break up around 2000 or 2001. Members found side projects and decided to disband Don Caballero permanently. Ian Williams, the guitarist up until 2000’s American Don, found a new project in his Chicago-based act, Battles. Che found a few projects, including Bellini.

Alas, the side projects were not enough to keep Che away. Unfortunately, Che and Williams never made amends, as Che found a Pittsburgh-area, Don Caballero-influenced band called Creta Bourzia. He recruited the members and formed the new Don Caballero and played out. This caused Williams to become very disgruntled, but has never caused him any real ill will toward the newly-formed group centered around Che.

Rumor also has it that the newest Don Cab songs can be heard over at the Smiling Moose bar in the South Side. Some even claim that the band practices upstairs at the bar. Is it true? Who knows?

Epitonic.com probably has one of the best profiles of the band. Scott Bilby summed it up very simply:

“Picture this. A horde of nomadic aliens with numerous elongated limbs decides to migrate to Earth with the intention of demonstrating its species’ genetic supremacy over humans by forming an instrumental rock band. The power of the music they produce renders vocals irrelevant and obsolete. Silly humans, they say. We need not anthropomorphize in order to seduce your supple earthling ears. We need no verse-chorus-verse repetition to lull you into a hypnotically befuddled trance. These aliens journey here simply to embarrass us — and amaze us.”

So is there any reason you shouldn’t see the band? Absolutely not. Whether you love post-rock, math rock, post-punk or anything that involves a genre that deserves more than one word, Don Caballero exceeds all expectations and blows you away with their live show.

Don Caballero plays The Rex Theatre tonight. Tickets are $8.