Don Caballaro
Gang Banged With A Headache, And Live
Joyful Noise Recordings [2012]
Fire Note Says: The new Don Cab is intense, brutal, and also a great introduction to the Math Rock pioneers!
Album Review: Gang Banged With A Headache, And Live, is an ‘authorized bootleg” from Math/Instrumental Rock dynamos, Don Caballaro. This is one of those warts and all style recordings, capturing one show in Chicago from 2003, featuring a later incarnation of the band, Gene Doyle, Jeff Ellsworth, Jason Jouver, and Damon Che. There is an intensity captured on this album that one doesn’t find every day, this was an absolutely brutal live band, and Che was at the center of it all, driving the band from the drum stool.
The guitars are jagged, spiky and spiraling, the bass is a sledgehammer, and the drums are a chaotic maelstrom of sound and fury. Most of the songs start simple enough, a repeating guitar line that sets up a melody, and then all hell breaks loose as Che’s drums begin their assault. At times the band is doing all it can to keep up with him, there is absolutely the feeling that it could all come unglued at any moment, but the band is strong enough to keep it all together, and only ride that line. It’s not often that the drums are the main instrument of a band, but I kept thinking that over and over while I was listening to this album, Che is really a lead drummer.
The song titles are truly something to behold on this record, I find that the more interesting the song title is, the better the music is. Highlights include “In the Absence of Evidence to the Contrary, One May Step Out of the Way of the Charging Bull” and “Let’s Face it Pal, You Haven’t Lived Afro Pop”. Both tracks are textbook examples of what Math Rock sounds like. Every song here is a highlight quite honestly, but I find that since this is an instrumental album, that the pieces, while distinctly individual, also have a way of meshing together to take me on one continuous 42 minute thrill ride. Gang Banged With a Headache, and Live is a very intense, brutal, and enjoyable record. It’s also a historic artifact, documenting one night in the life of one of the pioneering rock acts of the 90s, and serves as a fine introduction to the band.
Key Tracks: “Let’s Face It Pal, You Haven’t Lived Afro Pop”, “Don Caballaro 3”, “Fire Back About Your New Baby’s Sex”
Artists With Similar Fire: Battles / Polvo / Slint
Don Caballaro Website
Don Caballaro Facebook
Joyful Noise Recordings
-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, I am extremely proud of the area I grew up in and the influence it has had on the world at large, from the Wright Brothers to Robert Pollard, the area has been a center of innovation both technologically and artistically. During my college years at the University of Dayton, I found myself becoming more and more immersed in the local music scene, a period of time in the early to mid 90's that coincided with the rise of bands like Guided by Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders, who added to the rich musical legacy of the area. Dayton is also the hometown of many giants of funk in the 70's and is also the birthplace of Jazz greats Billy Strayhorn, John Scofield and Bud Shank. I wrote extensively for The Fire Note, a great online magazine focused on indie rock, in the 2010's while simultaneously being a partner in Rockathon Records, before retiring from both in 2018. In 2024, my thoughts turned back to helping at Rockathon and more importantly to pick back up on my writing, and more specifically to write about my love of jazz. I'm always listening, always searching for something new, something great. It's been a lifelong journey, and I still feel like there is so much out there to hear.
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
