3 out of 5

Label: My Pal God Records, Actionboy 300 Records

Produced by: Dave Trumfio (tracks: 1, 2), Tom Zaluckyj (tracks: 3, 4)

These two, early Dianogah 7″s – collected here on a fangdangled CD format – showcase the group at their most Chicago-iest (excepting that time they pretended they were Tortoise on Millions of Brazilians), prior to finding more room in their sound on their Albini-produced debut and sophomore albums. That’s not a bad thing, by any means, as the Chicago post-rock groove has always been the backbone to Dianogah’s sound, and Jason Harvey, Jay Ryan, and Kip McCabe play a devastatingly slick, double-bass version of it, proving that they had the songwriting chops right up front.

While each 7″ has a greater and lesser track (One Hundred Percent Tree and Eucalyptus are the winners), we get a few different shades of Dianogah, from more layered to more aggressive to more laidback, and also learn, early on, that Jay’s vocals are best used sparingly. Not because they’re unpleasant, or his lyrics uninteresting – they err toward oblique – but because it does seem like it sacrifices some of the intricacy of the interplay, as our ‘lesser’ track (Building a Playpen, Garden Airplane Trap) blend into the sounds of like-minded peers more easily.

Not necessarily the playlist that’s going to convert a new listener, Old Material New Format is a required fix for those already worshiping at the Dianogah temple, praying for an eventual followup to Qhnnnl.