Don Caballero - What Burns Never Returns (Album Review)

 

Don Caballero - What Burns Never Returns

(1998)

My copy: 1998 press by Touch And Go.

Standing as their second to last album (not counting post-breakup material), What Burns Never Returns is notable for its equitable marriage of Damon Che’s mad drumming and Ian William’s post-rock guitar noodling. The prior records focused a bit more on the drums and punk attitudes while the 2000 follow up (American Don) lifted off a bit too far into spacey guitar experimentation. This 1998 record is best when the drums and guitar blend together into messy, almost free-jazz fits of non-traditional songwriting. 

“Don Caballero 3” sets off with ambition, capping off at nearly ten minutes of rigorous math-rock curriculum. The guitar is at first totally lacking melody, instead bumbling about with the bass so as to set the stage for Che’s impressive prog-oriented drumming. Many detours through various time signatures are taken, but trying to map out every time/tempo switch on this record would just result in a headache. Eventually the layered guitar delights in peppy melodies though things remain unconventional with delay and strange sliding riffs. “In The Abscence Of Strong Evidence To The Contrary, One May Step Out Of The Way Of The Charging Bull” may be a mouthful (and they even misspelled “absence”(On purpose? probably with their humor)) but the sputtering guitar and punky growling bass help maintain a consistent tension until more optimistic progressions rise from a percussive breakdown. The mood suddenly shifts again with eerie arpeggios and moaning guitar. The band utilizes highly technical skills from various genre backgrounds (Che’s insane double-time kick drum plowing or William’s guitar tapping) though nothing ever feels like a tasteless gimmick - these are masterful musicians with a conscience about when to reign in the jamming.

The guitar indulges in distortion on “Delivering Groceries At 138 Beats Per Minute” which reflects some of the sharper tunes of their early days. Sneaky off-kilter riffs are poured into every crack and crevice of Che’s robotic drumming, ensuring each song has a new surprise for returning customers. Fluttering and glitching guitar glides across channels on “Slice Where You Live Like Pie” which kicks into crying distortion in the later half, hyperventilating in front of one of Che’s most impressive performances. “Room Temperature Suite” makes use of reverse reverb to give the guitar a unique tone, and highlights the bass when it picks up into a double-time groove in the vein of the Minutemen. 

“The World In Perforated Lines” is the shortest and tightest track with a sour mood, engaging in some seemingly Django Reinhardt inspired jazz guitar spasms. “From The Deck Of Elsewhere Go” is more an ode to syncopation in which the drums reach the peak of their fury, forcing everything to wither momentarily, reviving with elephant snorts of guitar. As you round the corner to “Finally June Is Here” you start to feel as though you get the idea, but they manage to keep you hooked with trickling delayed melodies and ever-tight drums. 

Don Caballero succeeds in towing a very delicate line between over-indulgent and boring. Math-rock is a genre that, by nature, can very easily devolve into senseless drivel or technical wankery. Fortunately, What Burns Never Returns proves that Don Cab are not only classy, but that they are capable of transcending genres and bending conventions with weird tonal and performative experiments. What Burns Never Returns may repeat some structural ideas, and can feel aimless at times, but it is a powerful record that manages to fuse catchy riffs with jaw-dropping instrumental feats.