4 out of 5

Label: Touch and Go

Produced by: Al Sutton

‘For Respect’ certainly made a splash, widening the spectrum and appeal of instrumental rock / metal, but it’s also easy to lose the album amidst all the noise and bluster that coming out of Chicago and New York’s indie scenes during the 90s, especially as released on Touch and Go.  It was DC2 that – to me, at least – start to establish Don Caballero as truly something different, though it could also be seen as the beginning of the end in a way, as Damon Che’s driving drumming force starts to wend through the increasingly experimental guitarness of Ian Williams and Mike Banfield.

This is good and bad, leading the band to step away from the incessant riffing of their debut into the unexpected shifting and dodging of ‘What Burns,’ especially notable on longer tracks like ‘Dick Suffers is Furious With You’ and ‘Repeat Offender,’ but that Don Cab still hadn’t quite “found” the sound (that would eventually break them) shows up when a song like ‘please tokio please THIS IS TOKIO’ breaks down into momentum-killing noise for a few minutes, or when closer ‘No One Gives a Hoot About FAUX-ASS Nonsense’ ambles for ten minutes without really getting into a groove.

These moments aren’t enough to topple the effect of what you’re hearing, though, which is still impressive however many years on.  And the benefit of the experimentation and indulgences is that it makes those riff-centric tracks, shoved along by Che’s undeniably awesome drumming, all the more effective.

Certainly a centerpiece in any instrumental rock fan’s library, but also, in a way, the most interesting of the Don Cab albums for the way it shows the budding head of genius that would emerge and evolve over the next two discs.