June 10th, 2008 
James Shotwell 
Band: La Dispute
Album: Untitled 7″
Genre: Punk/rock/Party Prog
Label: Self Released/No Sleep
Tracks:
1. Only Everything Below
2. Shall Never Lose It’s Power
I know it may seem silly for UTG to do a write up on a two song ep, but from the moment you hear the first notes of, “Only Everything Below,” you will know why we did. We’ve discussed La Dispute before [see our review of their old ep HERE] and they’re still making our jaws drop. These two songs show amazing growth for the group and the best part is, they’re only meant to be a bridge from the old ep to the new full length due in November which mean this isn’t even La Dispute at their peak. We were excited for the full length before, but after the first time through this 7″ all of us at UTG began feverishly staring at our calenders in hopes 11/11/08 would come more quickly.
“Only Everything Below,” the first song of the two, is a very fast paced number with vocalist Jordan running his mouth faster than almost anyone in the scene today. He rambles as the band plays equally upbeat and quick music [though making room for gang vocals on the end rhymes]. The band has never sounded as tight as they do here and the slightly new sound referenced especially when things slow down must be a result of the member changes since the last release, but they are wonderful. Listen closely and see if you can find the J.R.R. Tolkien reference, if you don’t get it, look it up!
The second track, “Shall Never Lose It’s Power,” is a bit more relaxed, but lyrically, it’s quite heavy. It’s more apparent here than on the last track, but there’s a very clear theme of religious basis here. Though, as to what they’re saying, I think it should be left up to the listener to determine. I think just saying what we here at UTG feel would be like ruining the ending of a great film, the kind of film that stays with you for weeks and that’s exactly what this music will do to you.
Overall, this is simply stunning. In two songs La Dispute shows more range than some artist are able to express in entire albums. They’re progress is nothing short of stunning and their hard work is laying the blueprints for a long lasting career. Come this time next year, the name La Dispute will be on the lips of everyone who is anyone. They are bound to be the next big thing and since this 7″ is a limited run of 500, you may want to jump on it while supplies last.
GRADE: 10/10
MYSPACE
BUY THIS RECORD!
On March 30th, 2008, UTG James (J) met and interviewed La Dispute (LA) [No Sleep Records] in Grand Rapids, MI just before their tour kickoff show at The DAAC
J: Hey, this is [UTG] James and I’m in Grand Rapids with La Dispute before they leave for their upcoming tour. They’re recent Signees with No Sleep Records which is run by our good friend Chris Hansen, who is not the same Chris Hansen that does, “To Catch A Predator,” however, if he did, that would be incredible. Anyways, you guys are getting ready to leave for tour, could you tell us a bit about that?
LA: The tour…well, we are going by ourselves and we’re going to be gone until July 6th. We’re ending at Cornerstone, which we played last year. We have shows everyday, but 2. So….yea, oh, we booked it ourselves as well.
J: Awesome job for booking it yourselves. Where all will you be going while on tour?
LA: Out West. Which is…all the way to California, with lots of states in between: Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, Illinois, Texas, Utah, Colorado, etc.
J: You guys just self released a 7″. Could you tell us a bit more about it?
LA: We were really interested in doing vinyl because it seems to be growing in popularity again. It’s always been ever-present in the smaller community that I like to think we’ve become a part of, so having a vinyl instead of a cd was kind of a cool way to do something that’s a bit different from what people expected us to yet still giving them something cool and new….part of the reason we decided to release the vinyl was that since the first album, we’ve kind of settled into a new songwriting process for the full length and there were these 2 songs stuck awkwardly in songwriting purgatory and we kinda wanted to group them together and record them to kind of fill in the gap between the first album and the new one. They have similar concepts and themes, so they aren’t two random tracks on a 7″, but 2 related songs on opposite side of a 7″ with one main track.
J: We at Under The Gun Review had a random thought today. We were wondering how many people you think actually get your reference to “Valinor,” and maybe you could explain it to people who don’t understand it’s source.
LA: We’re really glad you get the reference. Ever since we’ve released the 7″ or since we posted the lyrics on Myspace we’ve had people come up and tell us they’re surprised that there’s a reference to Tolkien’s Middle Earth and not even a direct reference to Lord Of The Rings, but more about the geography and history of Valinor itself. The idea behind the reference was that, well I [Jordan – vocals] am a huge nerd, but I’m not ashamed of it, but Valinor…well, I encourage you all to just look it up on Wikipedia and read the article and I think the reference is pretty self explanatory. It was a way of saying an explanation without saying a specific location. So yea, go and look it up. HAHA!
J: So the album, the full length, comes out 11/11. It seems far away, but it’s really not. However, there’s already a title for it and it’s pushing Fiona Apple type status, so if you could tell us the title and maybe give a little explanation for why you chose it?
LA: It is verbose I [Jordan] have a tendency to talk too much, so a winded album title is to be expected. Anyways, the idea behind it comes from a folk tale of Asian decent regarding the plight of a prince and a princess who are separated after marriage by a river they are not allowed to cross. So the idea was to, not specifically follow the story itself, but use it as a jumping off point for similar struggles that people face. It’s always been a common theme in my life and it’s reflected in the lyrics. It’s just, what makes people unable to achieve the perfect relationship, what keep us from crossing that river.
J:…And what was the album title? [laughter ensues]
LA: Oh yea, backtrack. The album title is: Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair. Vega represents the princess and Altair is the princess. The river…yea, the river between them is a river, it keeps them apart. So yea, it’s suppose to explore what about the river keeps them from crossing and being together. It’s sappy and emotional.
J: Back to touring again, what are the plans past this tour?
LA: Hopefully, a little bit in August, but not a lot. In the fall we’d like to go out again, maybe South, like Florida, especially while it’s horrible here. Then in January we’re going to Canada with Native. So that’s going to be awesome.
J: You guys are now on a label full of bands that tour constantly and with a lot of bands, who would you like to go out with this fall or elsewhere in the future?
LA: First and foremost we’d love to spend time with our friends, the guys we play with all the time. We’d love to hit the road with our bros in like Native and Victor! Fix the Sun. As far as a dream tour, if At Drive In Reunited and wanted or Metallica….especially Metallica. [laughter ensues again].
J: So, as time begins to run down, how would you sell your band to someone new and you cannot use references to ATDI or Mewithoutyou because that’s what the ads say. You have 3 words or less….Go:
LA:
-Rock and Roll
– XmetalcoreX
-Love, Punk, Community
-Party-Prog
-Hanging Out
-Crunk
J: You are known for your live shows. Is this something you spend a lot of time crafting, or is it more, “whatever happens on stage, happens”?
LA: Basically, when we play live, we first practice to make sure we can play all the songs and from there we craft the set list. As far as the show goes, we just let go and let what happens happen. We make the best of every situation and put our all into what we do.
J: Now, as you guys begin to move up the ranks, what band will you be telling people to listen to and give more attention to?
LA: Ok, lets just make a list: Ivan, Native, Victor! Fix The Sun, Le Trek, Lion of the North, Mans, Brothers, Tiger, Moorland, Paucity, Saints Never Surrender, For All We Know, and many more… – these are all bands that we play with all the time and have grown to love and respect and we’re so lucky to be coming up in such a strong scene.
J: Well, we’ve run out of time, so let’s do some quick final thoughts. You’re going on tour, you have the 7″ out right now, but it’s limited to 500 copies. Also, we’d love to thank you for your time and Chris Hansen for signing you guys and helping set this up for us. Now, what are some last thoughts from La Dispute?
LA:
– I got an Iphone and I love it. My life is complete.
– Be Excellent to each other and party on dudes.
– We love what we do and we love being part of this community. We’d all be content to spend the next ten years playing for gas money and sleeping on floors.
-We’re excited to leave. We’re living the dream and it’s cool.
-I’m just excited to hang out everyday forever. Thank you.
—————————————–
Check out some of the bands La Dispute thinks you need to hear:
Native
Brothers
Paucity
Ivan
Victor! Fix The Sun
*Written By: James Shotwell*
- 2015’s Most Underrated Films - December 29, 2015
- Passing The Torch: The End Of An Era For UTG - December 1, 2015
- UTG PREMIERE: Before The Streetlights – “Private Browser” - November 26, 2015
Posted in 
Tags: 