As has been the case throughout most of my life, when I discover a band that really kicks my ass, they've either just broken up or have been gone for a long time. Of my top 25 favoritest bands of all time, there might be five or six that are still active, and three or four that I've seen live. Don Caballero was one such band. I bought "For Respect" when it came out in '93, but alas, my musical palate at the time was more in line with straight-ahead punk rock, thus not refined enough to appreciate it, so I sold it. Around '97 or so, I had occasion to see them live and it was a life-changing experience to be sure. As I got older, my tastes started leaning a lot more toward more technical, avant-garde shit. Seeing Don Caballero again in 2000 flossed my brain even more, and having since picked up all their releases, Don Cabellero had justifiably earned a slot on my all-time favorite bands list. Then of course they broke up. As soon as I heard that Don Caballero drummer Damon Che had a new band called Bellini, and I'd been awaiting a release like a Spokane hooker waiting for her HIV test results. Aside from Damon Che, The band is made up of the guitarist (Agostino Tilotta) and singer (Giovanna Cacciola) from the Italian avant-guitar-noise band Uzeda and bassist Matt Taylor (pedigree unknown). Bellini is fairly dissimilar in sound to Don Caballero, but will probably appeal to DC fans nonetheless. Damon Che's signature drum technique is there of course, but whereas DC experimented with many different textures and volume dynamics, Bellini is unilaterally shrill and abrasive, with little fluctuation in intensity. Vocalist Giovanna Cacciola speak-sings in a mildly alluring Italian accent which seems to emphasize their off-kilter-ness, but her vocals are near-constant, and I find myself wishing they would have opted to skip the singer altogether. The fact that they chose to record their debut with Steve Albini will be a handicap, I think. They will have identified themselves, perhaps irretrievably, with Albini's trademark tinny, trebly guitar and ultra-dry snare sounds. Plus, that particular production aesthetic is severely overdone lately, and in fact is kind of restrictive, a shibboleth for avant-rock. Moreover, I get the feeling that this production style hollows out their sound a great deal, depriving it of some much-needed bottom end. Snowing Sun is a keeper, but I was expecting a stronger debut. Hopefully on subsequent releases, they'll have someone else record them and rein in the vocals a bit. Bellini website Free sample track from Epitonic LATE BREAKING UPDATE: Moments before posting this review I read the following on Bellini's website: 10.08.2002- Athens, GA Three songs into the set and 28 days into the tour, Damon Che walked off the stage and out of Bellini. He took the band's rental van and drove home, leaving Agostino, Giovanna and Matthew stranded at the venue. The next day they made a phone call, rented a car, and drove to New York to practice with Alexis Fleisig (our hero) from Girls Against Boys, who also supplied equipment and rehearsal space. Nat from the Oxes supplied a van.