Math Rock Mystery (SOLVED!)

So this is kind of an interesting post as we had a reader with a very specific question for us the other day.
You see our interested party had an album that had been given to him by his girlfriend....math rock in nature...that had become one his favorite math albums.  Unfortunately...there were no track titles, nor album title and only the supposed name of the band, PIZZA.

The PoS team and myself feverishly began searching the interwebs for any and all information concerning to no avail. However it wasn't until a reader from the wonderful math rock reddit page suggested that it may in fact be a group briefly mentioned in Don Caballero's final tour diary.

As it turns out upon checking in deeper it was indeed that same group. Pizza hailed from Boston in the early 2000's and is said to have played in Tuxedo's and utilized a wireless guitar system to be able to play outside the venue. This is unconfirmed as the information on this group is scarce at best. One thing is for sure though is that they are best known as the group forbidden to play during Don Cab's show in Boston. (if you want the full story read the diary above..its worth it) As during Don Cab's set members of the audience actually threw real pizza at Damon Che and company.

It should also be noted that Scott Buoncristiano of Pizza would go on with a former member of Lynx and others to create the group Challenger. Also another incredible math rock group very much worth your time.

I feel like its incredibly important to keep people informed as much about the new music coming out as well about the older groups that have paved the way. Pizza is a pretty excellent group especially for the time and certainly have that classic math rock sound.

History lesson over :)
Below is a direct link to Pizza's self-titled as well two live albums
PIZZA

How My Children Interpret "Math Rock"

From my albeit limited understanding of what this blog is "supposed" to be about I feel it important to share as many aspects of this genre as possible. Our primary goal here is to showcase new and exciting talent. However it is always important to reflect on not only what this whole genre means to us ...but also to those who will come after us.

My kids are aware of math rock in passing. They've listened to it before, but ive never sat down and discussed exactly what it was they were listening to. At their ages ( 9, 7 and 5) ((my 2 year old was alseep)) I don't feel like genre classification should be something for them to think about just yet. For the most part I let them make their own choices on the music they listen to. We all have mp3 players in the house and as the soul parent responsible for the music adding and subtracting (my wonderful wife leaves these issues to me) I do slip in things that I am interested in that I feel they would also like/think would be cool.

Town Portal - Vacuum Horror

When I hear of math rock across the ocean I get excited to catch a listen as it can be a unique affair. Denmark's power trio Town Portal do not in fact bring anything horribly unique to the table but have seemed to reanimate the corpse of 90's De Soto Records stalwarts such as "Shiner" and "Jawbox" which is just awesome for me. Another group previously covered that Town Portal reminds me of is Mike Banfield's (Ex Don Cab) current group Knot Feeder. Maybe not as in your face as Knot Feeder but Town Portal lay down some pretty gnarly grooves and keep it all pretty lock tight. Great Drum and Bass in sink with the guitar belting out some really nice alt-math metal skronk. The time changes miiiiight not be as labyrinthine as you'd expect of the more tech groups out there but its done so well your not left wondering when something cool is going to happen...it just is constantly happening. Very much worth your time to give this a gander, I promise you will keep coming back to it as its a solid first outing for this new group.


Vacuum Horror

Battles - Gloss Drop (2011)

There a few reasons why I have not posted about Battles yet. Before we get into that however there are a few things you should know concerning my feelings about them.

1. Best band I have ever seen. So incredibly tight it is just sick.
2. John Stanier is a fucking mythological beast behind the kit
3.Mirrored   made a lot of people cock their heads and say "oh shit, math rock can be this?"

As for my reasoning behind waiting so long is because I really wanted to wait and see about this new album now that the group has cut one very crucial member.

For those not in the know this is Battles. Made up of Ian Williams (ex-axe man of Don Cab), Dave Konopka (formerly of Lynx) and John Stanier (former drummer of Helmet) Truly some strong blood going on here.

Gloss Drop is an interesting listen to be sure. While not to say Mirrored was an organic listen in anyway Gloss Drop further distances itself relying on keys and samples aplenty but never to the detriment of the pieces. Now cut down to three members the compositions sound clearer and more to the point and by extension songs are more structured. Guest vocalists all do a great job in their individual songs without taking away from the instrumentation which has always been key. I had a bad feeling about this one for no good reason. I really enjoy that it is a progression but not a very large one. Im sure I will be finding myself liking it more as time goes on. Maybe thats what you really want in the end small progress and not mountain moving.

Dakota/Dakota - Shoot in the Dark

These gentlemen may not be familiar to you with this name but perhaps with the name Russian Circles? Well truth be told both guitarist and bassist went on to form that better known post metal group. I've always found there sound to be a little uninspired but they have their moments. That is not to say that Dakota/Dakota travel in high creativity. They sound a little like a more structured post rock don cab.  Its some good stuff and a couple very stand out tracks are showcased. If this was developed a bit more I would give it some bigger props but certainly on its own  its a great math rock piece. 

Shoot in the Dark

The Speaking Canaries - Get Out Alive: The Last Type Story (2003)

There is something to be said for an album that seemed to have done so much right and even in its day received high critical praise but was thrown to the side. This is the often forgotten about project of Damon Che (drummer of Don Cab)  Here the skin smasher takes up guitar and enlists the assistance of fellow Pittsburghians Hurl. However I have read for this particular release these are songs mostly tracked by Che himself. Its an interesting period piece of 90's indie rock that seems to have an odd love of early Van Halen, but it works well. Something I will let our readers choose however is which release they want..... There are two cuts of this album.  One has severely extended versions of a couple songs and the other does not. Im in the camp of the shorter version but I know a lot of people prefer the extensions.

Get Out Alive: The Last Type Story (long)

Get out Alive: The Last Type Story (short)

Knot Feeder - Light Flares (2009)

Ex member of Don Cab Mike Banfield and Ex Tabula Rasa members this is straight up Pittsburgh Math rock with that classic 90's feel.  It is a strong release but there isn't much musical push behind it. Turn it on and rock.



light flares

Piglet - Lava Land

In math rock circles Piglets only release "Lava Land" is considered a modern classic. Written about in as many blogs as you could think of it has totally exhausted any insightful added commentary on the currently split up group. no lyrics, no loops and three members might not sound like much but its these minimal elements that make it more special than their myriad contemporaries. Structurally you would be hard pressed to find better with a command of dynamics of any of the new ilk getting passed off as complex math rock. Which seems to be the problem in todays current climate, there always seems to be an element missing. Throughout Lava Land each member is constantly at war with one another for space within the song yet with a cohesion that creates a striking juxtapose. As a hint to their surprising influence our new vanguard of math groups name check Piglet right along side the greats (Don Cab, Volta Do Mar, Pele.....ect.) If you've never heard then please see what the fuss is about.


Piglet - Lava Land