La Dispute Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair (No Sleep)
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Since LA DISPUTE’s 2004 inception, over the course of two EPs and one 7-inch, the Grand Rapids, M.I. band’s urgent, often-ferocious brand of driving hardcore has garnered comparisons to Saetia, At The Drive-In and mewithoutYou while their live show has been known to light a fire under more than a few receptive audiences. However, on the quintet’s debut full-length, Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair, there’s an unmistakably foreboding, almost hypnotic current pulsing through these twelve remarkable songs. It’s an intriguing, captivating turn as La Dispute has always been more known for their frantic and frenzied brand of aural aggression than for any soul-searching composition or contemplative passage. Somewhere will undoubtedly change that perception.
While the band continues to unapologetically pluck at post-whatever-core’s many raw, exposed nerves – explosive drumming, slashing punk riffs, cathartic yelps and growls and enough unpredictable collisions of discordant noise to set your teeth on edge – it’s La Dispute’s grasp of open space and gravitation toward deep, introspective traverses on Somewhere that really set them apart. Their latest offering is just as much about beauty and inward reflection as it is about instrumental devastation and purgative release. The latter steals our breath and sends our heads and hearts spinning…but the former is what really makes us consider and, more importantly, feel what the band has to say.
Of course, understanding La Dispute’s message begins with the lyrics. Drawing its title from an Asian folktale, Somewhere attempts to prompt discussion regarding aspects of ourselves that prevent us from maintaining our happiness as well as relationships with others. At the basest level, it’s a story about flawed individuals, both fictional and based on actual events, struggling to obtain some measure of peace. Filtered through front man Jordan Dreyer’s angst-y, stream-of-conscious vocals though, it’s modern day confessional regarding the stumbling blocks within ourselves – what lays at the bottom of that allegorical river, if you will – that scares us from really experiencing interconnectivity with others or a contentment with one’s own existence. Not only does Dreyer’s viscerally exhilarating delivery drive home that point, but he effortlessly conveys an atmosphere of self-doubt, anger, passion, rumination and wonderment with his eerily poetic lyrics.
Ultimately, Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair is about coping with the uncertainty of what lies ahead once it’s confronted, and it certainly doesn’t pull any punches in that regard. Nor does it hold back musically; it’s chaotic and unrelenting, and these twelve tracks are cranked out with expert precision and the utmost enthusiasm and fervor. Nevertheless, La Dispute’s contemplative attempt to dig below the surface of human interaction while simultaneously gazing upward and inward – both lyrically and instrumentally – is the real driving force behind this album, and it’s what makes it truly essential listening.
La Dispute is Jordan Dreyer (vocals), Chad Sterenberg (guitar), Adam Vass (bass), Kevin Whittemore (guitar) and Brad Vander Lugt (drums). Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair was recorded at StudiOtte in the band’s hometown of Grand Rapids, M.I. by Joel and Troy Otte. It was mastered by Kim Rosen at West West Side Music. The album will be released worldwide on November 11, 2008 by No Sleep Records. The label will be releasing the band’s four-song 7-inch, Here, Hear II (white vinyl, 300 pressing), in November as well. La Dispute’s 2006 CDEP, Vancouver, was released by Friction Records, who just pressed the vinyl version in September. In May of 2008, Forest Life Records (owned by bassist Adam Vass) released an untitled 7-inch from the band, as well as the mini-cd, Hear Hear. For more info, go to www.myspace.com/ladispute, www.ladisputemusic.com or www.nosleeprecs.com.
Press Contact: Chuck Daley / Beartrap PR / chuck@beartrappr.com / (704) 649-7128
