Math rock and the way the genre handles its own history is something I find admirable.

Math rock doesn't have the cultural weight of classic rock or even post-punk. There's no canonical narrative, no "golden era" that everyone references as the standard. The tradition is more diffuse, and this has kept the genre more genuinely experimental than genres with heavier canonical weight.

Artists working in math rock today don't feel the same pressure to engage with the canonical tradition that artists in, say, folk music feel. The Don Caballero records exist but they don't dominate the space the way certain folk or rock records do. This lightness is part of what allows the genre to keep developing rather than just refining.

I think the diffuse tradition is actually a strength. Without a canon to rebel against or conform to, artists are more free to make the music that the music wants to be rather than the music that the tradition expects.