La Dispute – “Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair”
Album Reviews | Dec 25th, 2008
Record Label: No Sleep Records
Genre: Post-Hardcore
Band Link: link
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In a way, I kind of like what La Dispute is doing. The tracks center around the nervous vocals, which read off lines in a spoken word style before totally spazzing out. The problem is that the vocals are just too irritatingly herky-jerky and tortured, as if the guy from Dead Milkmen were getting his nipples twisted in a clamp.
I recognize vocals of most post-punk/post-hardcore bands are a taste to acquire, so I’ll grade this on the music. La Dispute uses tom-heavy percussion and clean single-note guitar playing, with not-too-heavy hardcore/spazz moments. It’s never quiet for too long, nor does it get unpleasantly noisy.
The style is between precision and organic, which is a good place to be in a genre where execution exists at the polar ends of contrively precise or joltingly sloppy. La Dispute’s songwriting avoids the cliched tension-and-release dynamic: the music is altogether relaxed, while the vocals handle the tension.
If you can get passed the vox, there’s some good post-hardcore here. Mind you, this won’t change your life, but what post-hardcore does?
Bottom Line:
Notable Tracks: The Castle Builders
Overall Rating:
