Don Caballero - American Don
(Touch and Go)

American Don is proper full length number four from these Chicago-cum-Pittsburgh lads (fifth LP overall, if you count the Singles Breaking Up singles and miscellaneous collection), and it is an unusual records in two respects. First, it's unusual, specifically for Don Caballero, because it is the record that may finally topple their heavy metal tag. Second, it is unusual, generally, because it's so damned prog and very clean (continuing what was started on their last record, What Burns Never Returns, Ian Williams has jettisoned distortion from his guitar almost completely for this album), yet still kicks you right in your ass. In both respects, American Don is a great achievement.

Over the course of their career, Caballero has become increasingly less pummeling and increasingly more prog, coming of, variously, as a punked-up Helmet, a methamphetamine-loaded King Crimson, and a post-rock Yes. However, in losing the cinderblock riffs and jackhammer rhythms, the Don has create a new kind of heavy. Without resorting to cheap clichés of giant power chord riffage and mountains of distortion, Caballero manages to still fucking rock, albeit in a very modern kind of way. Though giving the distortion a rest may seem a bit gimmicky, like a metal band gone jazz, the effect is significant and startling. Where in the past Caballero may have seemed suffocatingly dense, the music has now opened up. The newly opened space draws the listeners attention to the various parts, the careful balance (or disorienting lack thereof), the skill, and the calculation. In that sense, they have, strangely enough, become more akin to Dianogah (their seemingly mismatched tourmates from earlier this summer) than riff mongers with scientific calculators.

The secret lies, not surprisingly, in the unbelievable drumming of Damon Che, who has, since the beginning, been the heart and gut of Don Caballero. His furious pounding has evolved into something more intelligent and challenging, without sacrificing the raw, visceral quality that knocks you on your ass. (Incidentally, since the demise of June of 44, and the rise of Doug Scharin's pukey Him, Che is now unchallenged for Greatest Rock Drummer. Fuck Neil Peart.)

"Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex" kicks of the record with pummeling drums, and nasty, heavy bass line, over which hyper guitar licks bounce about. Much of the guitar work on this record sounds like Van Halen's "Eruption" ran through a jazz blender. "You Drink a Lot of Coffee for a Teenager" begins with furious drums rolls, start and stop bass and guitar licks, before it reaches a critical mass of noise and lays back into a stilted, skipping melody. "Ones All Over the Place" features a lyrical, cyclic guitar melody, punctuated by a percussive bass thump, before abruptly switching gears, then, just as abruptly switching gears again.

If you have not yet experienced Don Caballero, please do so immediately. If you have, but were put off by their ruff and tuff metal edge, which offended your pasty and demure sensibilities, give them another chance. American Don is a head banging record that even cardigan-wearing pansies can enjoy.

dave christensen 2000 oct 4