Dianogah - Battle Champions
(Southern)
Dianogah's sophomore album, Battle Champions, starts with a short, fragile
guitar interlude, announcing to the listener that this album is going to be
a little different than their previous work. The band states that the three
years between full lengths allowed them to make the songs more "pro." However,
sounding "pro" isn't necessarily a good thing, and neither, necessarily, is
spending a lot of time developing and recording songs. Like a house of cards,
the more time you spend on it, the less stabile the foundation gets. Dianogah's
earlier material, using only two basses (one low, the other high) and drums,
was all about foundation. The songs were sturdy and strong. At one or two
moments on their new album, the foundation becomes almost brittle; the music
being so delicate it is almost vapid. If this is what it means to sound "pro,"
perhaps they shouldn't have declared early for the draft.
Despite these brittle points, the music is still stellar, and the foundation,
for the most part, remains intact, the band relying on the same formula/gimmick
of 2 basses + drums for most of the songs. While Dianogah's first, As Seen
From Above, had immediate (yet still long-lasting) appeal, Battle Champions'
pill is more of a time-release. Had I reviewed this record two weeks ago, it
probably would have been at least two rating points lower. That is, supposedly,
a hallmark of a great album, though, right? To improve with each listen?
Perhaps it just takes that long to see past the brittle points, or, rather, see
how the brittle points incorporate into the grand scheme of each song.
Maybe that is another part of being more "pro," that is, the grand scheme of
things is little bit grander and a little bit schemier. The opening song,
"Kaisakunin," is not the only short interlude; there is also "Sometimes There
Are Birds," "Emerson," and "Work." Actually, it is funny, but most of the
non-bass guitarsmanship is reserved for these 4 interludes. The songs
themselves are also more "pro," in this case meaning slightly more experimental
than previous albums, including better use of changes in tempo and dynamics and
the use of guest musicians (aka Team Dianogah material). For example, "My
Brother Wore Brown" starts of as an exercise in tempo shifts, coming in very
uptempo and quiet before lowering the tempo, bringing it back up, and lowering
it again. Eventually the tempo picks up again along with the volume, and the
song becomes quasi-pop with its rollicking beat. Eventually though, the tempo
slows down again, drifting away at the end of the track. One of the interludes,
"Emerson," also plays with tempo quite a bit, switching back and forth between
a rumbling, rollicking part where the high end bass sounds very lyrical to
a sparer part featuring accompaniment by toy piano. It's a shame this track
didn't last a little longer than its 80 seconds.
As I mentioned a couple issues ago in a review of Billy Mahonie's
The Big Dig, there
seems to be a line now between post rock bands like Tortoise and Aerial M
and rock bands like Karate and Seam, and several bands, in exploring
what to do with post rock now that it has become passé, have taken more
and more inspiration from the rock bands while still remaining near post rock.
Dianogah's first album, in my opinion, was a near perfect blend of these two
elements; however, their new album sees them backtracking towards post rock
a little bit. While it's a shame they couldn't muster just a little more rock
and a little more roll, in the end, if they really felt the need to move along
that line, then I'm glad that's the direction they chose.
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