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Avg: 4.0 (55 ratings)
- Date Released: October 3, 2000
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Math Rock, Indie Rock
- Label: Touch And Go
Jazz, funk and math-rock wrapped into one incredibly precise recording
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We Say...
American Don is jazz, funk and math-rock wrapped into one incredibly precise recording. Guitarist Ian Williams delay-pedals his finger-tapped guitar riffs into chiming layers so intricate as to disguise the trees with the forest. Drummer Damon Che — the benchmark by which all indie rock drummers are measured (pre-Hella, anyway) — plays aggressively (he can seemingly move all the way from hi-hat to floor tom in milliseconds) but with considerable restraint: this is Don Cab's mellowest record, and even the notoriously volatile Che plays nice. Last but not least is bassist Eric Emm, whose low-end burps and swivels can get lost in the swirl of Williams and Che's one-upsmanship. There ain't a bad, or even mediocre, song here.
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They Say...
Before, listening to Don Caballero felt similar to being beaten over the head with a huge baseball bat of pure audible genius: often too overwhelming and complicated for your average music listener to listen to for very long, much less understand. With American Don, it seems that the baseball bat has been traded in for a pillow, and instead of beating they are slowly smothering. Much of the aggressive bite of the music has been simmered out: distortion is much more rare, time changes have been minimized, even the notoriously breakneck drumming of Damon Che has been sedated. The only piece that seems most similar to the styles they had established before is the extremely quirky and choppy "Details on How to Get ICEMAN on Your License Plate"; the rest only briefly moves through familiar places, instead choosing to uproot and shapeshift in listeners' collective faces. Those familiar with Ian and Eric's other band Storm & Stress might also notice a bit of flowing over from the techniques and styles on their records. As always, innovation, progression, and surprise seem to be a significant part of the Don Caballerian musical mindset; something is always surfacing out of unexpected dimensions and throwing you miles from where you thought you were heading. This is complicated and explosive. This is American Don: an eloquently stuttered statement of instability and grace all at once.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex |
4:43 |  |
| 02. | |
The Peter Criss Jazz |
10:36 | |
| 03. | |
Haven't Lived Afro Pop |
7:35 | |
| 04. | |
You Drink a Lot of Coffee for a Teenager |
2:41 | |
| 05. | |
Ones All Over the Place |
9:01 | |
| 06. | |
I Never Liked You |
4:59 | |
| 07. | |
Details on How to Get ICEMAN on Your License Plate |
5:36 | |
| 08. | |
A Lot of People Tell Me I Have a Fake British Accent |
5:24 | |
| 09. | |
Lets Face It Pal, You Didn't Need That Eye Surgery |
5:10 | |
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