Review Summary: I fear my relationship with Somewhere At the Bottom... is heading towards the same end as the one Dreyer cites on said album...
... but it’s difficult not to still love La Dispute, even if we’ve grown apart.
La Dispute are divisive. Two listeners hear the same elements they offer so powerfully, yet take them at polarizing stances. Perhaps their only LP symbolizes a divide.
Somewhere At the Bottom... is already so combative, intense, so why shouldn’t it be among listeners, also? It’s not like there’s any question of what’s
actually going on here, simply a difference in analysis it seems.
Somewhere At the Bottom... is blatant and forthright: intricate guitar lines, the river is overflowing with anger and passion, and poetic lyrics about fire and such. Dreyer’s unique vocal duties, the source of just as much praise as they are criticism, are often the fountainhead of disagreement. Screechy and undisciplined, borderline monotonous (especially in the spoken-word sections); but intense and fitting nonetheless, it’s difficult to call them outright bad without mentioning the aura they lend to the music. His vocal chords have drawn comparisons to Aaron Weiss’s, but is that really fair? The feeling that both guys are stretching their abilities to their outermost limits and resorting to flat-out speaking at some points are there; but Weiss gets the nod for having the skill to pull this technique off, where Dreyer comes across as a bit of an impersonator. Still, despite the vocals that grow grating, especially over the prolonged ordeal that is
Somewhere At the Bottom Of the River..., there’s draws to La Dispute that are indisputable.
Not many bands can perfect a moment like La Dispute can, fleeting as it may be. The last minute-and-a-half of “Said The King To The River” is entrancing, high-speed and intense, like having the rug pulled out from under your ears. Usually it’s little refrains that accentuate this element.
“Breathe in, breathe in, breathe in, BREATHE!” Dreyer screams, displaying that trademark lack of control of his voice... like the words have momentarily escaped his mouth in a way he wasn’t expecting. The band’s LP is ridden with these memorable catch phrases, more recitable than lines from the movie “Anchorman.” This lyrical prowess coupled with their ability to highlight them in an interesting manner is truly the highlight of
Somewhere At the Bottom of The River..., and its outstanding saving grace.
Though, it worries me a little that people take La Dispute so seriously sometimes. Don’t get me wrong- the Michiganians’ famed post-hardcore LP certainly harbors angst, anger, and those oh-so-poignant emotions that accompany heart-wrenching breakups. On the other hand, I can’t help but love
Somewhere At the Bottom Of the River... for what seems to be a different reason than the one most revel in. Sometimes I want to hear the agony and suffering of Jordan’s Dreyer’s screaming. I even listen diligently at times to hear the deep, metaphorical lines of a relationship that went up in flames. Maybe it’s because my natural disposition is too upbeat and optimistic, but I can’t help but sing along to “Bury Your Flame” every time it comes on with almost inexplicable jubilation-
“An unshakable absence / Like most of my insides crawled out of my mouth and went west!” See, where others are bent on detecting torment, it sounds to me more like beautiful dynamism. It’s so easy to lose myself in the maze-like forest of refreshingly experimental arrangements and off-kilter rhythms. The unadulterated passion is blatant, but for those of us that
haven’t had the post-breakup, lovelorn desire to burn our exes at the stake, there’s still plenty to love on
Somewhere At the Bottom Of the River...
Still, it’s mind-boggling as to what could have possibly made La Dispute want to draw these themes and techniques out three times as far as they’re willing to go. Not unlike Dreyer’s voice being stretched too thin, La Dispute crafted
Somewhere far too long, and the strong material can’t support the over-fifty-minute album. It drags the music down,
“Like an anchor to her feet,” making what seemed so impressive forty minutes ago seem mundane and trite. Additionally, where the album
could have used some extra beef (i.e. the too-short first and last tracks, two of the best), La Dispute decide to go lean.
The fervor surrounding the album --which has garnered a fairly large following since its release-- seems odd considering the nature of the band. They don’t seem to take themselves too seriously, put on a killer live show, and routinely release music for free. Simple enough. Still, they symbolize a divide among today’s today’s post-hardcore fans, perhaps between veterans and newcomers. I find the more post-hardcore I come in contact with, the more glaring La Dispute’s weaknesses --the dying-cat-vocal-technique, the unnecessary length, the reliance on singular moments rather than a more complete solidarity-- to be more outstanding. This aside, for the life of me I can’t help but be impressed by those few staggering guitar lines, those moments where I can’t help but scream alongside Dreyer in his disparate emotional range, or applaud La Dispute for their experimentation well within post-hardcore boundaries. Like Dreyer’s desperate and personal relationship with the subject of his songs, my relationship with
Somewhere At The Bottom of The River... has died down considerably over the years. My flame with La Dispute and their fleeting moments of rapture and jubilation, with Dreyer’s start-stop, scream-talk voice on
Somewhere At the Bottom... is still burning, even if it’s been partially dowsed over the years by the rainstorms of me recognizing the album’s faults.
