Don Caballero

Don Caballero formed in Pittsburgh in 1991 and made instrumental rock out of shifting time signatures, interlocking guitar patterns and abrupt stops. Damon Che sat at the centre of it, and guitarist Ian Williams, who later co-founded Battles, built the tangled, looping parts that played against his kit. The band released its records on Touch and Go, from the early 'For Respect' through 'What Burns Never Returns' and 'American Don', the last of which leaned further into clean, repeating guitar figures.

After that lineup came apart, Che revived the name with new musicians and made 'World Class Listening Problem' and 'Punkgasm' before the band went quiet in 2009. The turn-of-the-century lineup of Che, Williams and Eric Emm reunited for Primavera Sound in 2027. Their records sit in the same lineage as post-hardcore and post-rock, and later instrumental bands drew heavily on them.