La Dispute seems to have drawn a polarizing line in the sand with listeners who either love or hate the band. Frankly, it is perfectly understandable when listening to Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair. If the title did not give it away, the band is eccentric and overblown as they relentlessly push their own boundaries. Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River is frantic and at times a completely exhausting listen. However, if you get past the initial shock to the system you will grow to see a more nuanced atmosphere that the band is able to create. It is here the band shows off a grander scale that is breathtaking given the attention to detail and depths at which La Dispute operate.
No doubt, the similar vocal style and delivery of vocalist Jordan Dreyer to Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou is difficult to ignore. But, it is the band’s instrumental intricacies added to Dreyer’s vocal eccentricities that allow La Dispute to penetrate the listener. Echoing the techy, mathy sound of a band like Hot Cross at times, La Dispute run circles around Dreyer’s hypnotic poetic verse. The band are equally adept at creating such a natural flow on Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River. This is an album in the truest sense as it slowly unfolds and each song compliments the entire piece. The only question is by the end of the journey have you crossed over from exhaustion into exhilaration? That will determine what your final prognosis of La Dispute’s Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vegan And Altair will ultimately be. I will take the easy way out and just say I am exhiliratingly exhausted.
Genre: Post Hardcore/Screamo
RIYL: mewithoutYou, Hot Cross, At The Drive-In
Label: No Sleep
Said The King To The River
02%20Said%20the%20King%20to%20the%20River.mp3
Fall Down, Never Get Back Up Again
