Biographies
[Stolen shamelessly from Southern]
Boys, boys, boys! Or as a bored novice once wrote, "Isn't it a shame whilst good things are dying, we should hold in our hands the warm guns of others in slippery armor so well as to slide across lit couches when the potential of Eden's ransom lies at our feet. One shall labor temporarily, one shall stir-fry, one shall get particularly drunk, but one shall never know where heaven truly lay in a pedestrian state of stubborn alien-ness."
Or to put it more simply, could we be so terribly unclever that we fail to hear the master scoff at journeys up shit-filled creeks in wire canoes? Could the emperor of confidence wear such a fine robe that some hearts would go so unwounded, they would not share water with the mule that would carry their fortunes through the desert? In Don Caballero's microcosm of the ongoing struggle, four two-fold darn reasons are eight durations of heck. A double album two years in the making, simply titled Don Caballero II. You'd have to be a paga / jock / nympho not to like it.
Cindy Bells, New Amsterdam Parish of Kickass Magazine
Not that being a pagan or jock a nympho is necessarily bad, but those three together are quite a match for anyone. You know what that means... Don Caballero is essentially from Pittsburgh. You got it, three rivers. Don Caballero II, their second for Touch and Go, was recorded by producer Al Sutton at White Room Studios in Detroit. It was actually in a white room. Their first LP, For Respect, was recorded in Chicago by Steve Albini. Yeah, Don Caballero is instrumental, what's it to ya? Most don't realise that fact until they're told. They have been since their inception in 1991. Their first two singles were as a trio! Yeah, you're sayin' "instrumental." Well not on this album. They are more rock orientated than jazz, though many have said the contrary. The drums are the lead, while the guitars drive the beast. Emphasis on structure and composition, not to prove how accomplished they are, but to kick it. Don Caballero bare all their yellowed teeth, including fangs, on this one. Put it in, keep it in, and for chrissakes, turn it up NOW!
Formed in Pittsburgh, this indie heavy-rock band plays fast-paced instrumentals powered by drummer Damon Che. Guitarists Mike Banfield and Ian Williams and bassist Pat Morris complete the band. Their debut, For Respect, was released by Touch & Go Records in 1993. Its follow-up, Don Caballero 2, appeared in 1995; the group next resurfaced three years later with What Burns Never Returns.
John Bush, All Music Guide