DON CABALLERO 2

Mind-boggling, frightfully complex and powerful, math rock is one of the most exciting styles of music to come out of the United States since Jimi Hendrix brewed his roiling cauldron of heavy psych- blues over thirty-five years ago. The team of Damon Che, Ian Williams, Mike Banfield and Matt Jencik demonstrate that with exuberance on their second studio album.

'Don Caballero 2' takes us through a storm of rhythmic energy and grey tones of bizarre color as it grabs the listener by the hair and never lets go, pulling us into a progressive battle, a dirty little war in the trenches, real, unrelenting and totally satisfying. Don Cab don't care, they're here to fight and claw their way through the musical firmament and take no prisoners in their quest for glory in warfare. If you choose to go along, bring a flak vest. The set consists of eight instrumental pieces unified by the Don's garage-band-raised-to-glory sound that weave minimal lines together in a maximal way. Though simple in format - Che's remarkable drums, Williams' and Banfield's sonic dirt and Jencik's solid bass lines - the boys know how to get the most from the least. Reminiscent of Robert Fripp's heavier leanings but outdoing the master and charting new territory, Don Caballero have truly struck a vein of precious metal in more ways than one. For anyone interested in a new way of seeing instrumental music, Don Caballero is a crucial voice in a new frontier of American prog and their albums are rocks of pure roll.