the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety

It’s possible to draw a line from the crystalline, wonder-filled, drum-forward instrumentals Don Caballero perfected on American Don and the sound of toe, a Tokyo band that would come to define math rock in the 2000s. But the two approaches are ultimately quite distinct. Whereas Don Cab always maintained vestigial ties to post-hardcore, via a certain lumbering, metallic girth and penchant for sonic grit, toe were a much cleaner-sounding outfit, executing their airy instrumental rock with a balletic grace inherited from Midwest emo staples such as American Football. On their debut LP, The Book About My Idle Plot on a Vague Anxiety, it’s a wonder to hear guitarists Hirokazu Yamazaki and Takaaki Mino weave melodic lattices over the artful tumble of drummer Takashi Kashikura, who can sound like Hella’s Zach Hill mixed with a funky, virtuosic session ace, with bassist Satoshi Yamane providing the essential glue. Tone-wise, the band members’ backgrounds playing screamo sublimate here into an unabashed loveliness more akin to post-rock. But the sheer verve and excitement of the performances keep this from ever feeling like mere mood music.