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

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.

Lynx - Self Titled (2000)

 Math rock

Very short lived group featuring future Battles member Dave Konopka. Lynx is not anything new for the genre. However I will say that they have an excellent use of space. Drumming as well is better than 90% of these sorts of groups. 

Bonus Trivia: Lynx self titled album was produced by what well known member of Shellac?




Self Titled (2000)