Artist: La Dispute
Album: Rooms Of The House
Label: Better Living

You never know what to expect from Grand Rapids, Michigan quintet La Dispute. Over the course of two full-lengths and several EPs the band no one has ever been able to categorize into a single genre have built a career by doing exactly what they want. Their desire to create great, lasting art is superior to many of their peers, and it’s because of their tiring pursuit of that great work that we have been blessed with so many engaging listening experiences to date.

For their latest effort, a full-length titled Rooms Of The House that will be released March 18 through the band’s own label (Better Living), La Dispute locked themselves away in a northern Michigan cabin for the duration of the album creation process. When they emerged they had not only crafted their most sincere effort to date, but also expanded their musical horizons in ways fans may not expect. The heavy elements that served as the backbone for early releases in the group’s catalog have begun to take a backseat to more melodic influences, and even a bit of pop, but never to an extent that it feels unnatural for the band.

The story that guides Rooms Of The House is one heavy with heartache. Vocalist Jordan Dreyer has created a picturesque tale of a co-habitating couple becoming aware of their impending romantic doom. The staleness of two unfulfilled lives sharing a small space begins to present itself to each early on, and as the album progresses listeners are taken on a journey through the end of a romance that two hearts once believed would last forever. To borrow from a song off the band’s debut album, “there’s so much beauty in a storm.”

As the album transitions from the downfall of romance to the aftermath, it becomes clear Rooms Of The House reaches heights of concept perfection rarely touched upon in the modern music industry. The music created by guitarists Kevin Whittemore and Chad Morgan-Sterenberg, bassist Adam Vass and drummer Brad Vander Lugt tell as much about the events in each character’s lives as the scenes depicted in Dreyer’s poetry. La Dispute have always had a knack for having both vocals and music complementing one another, but here there is an urgency to the whole affair that pulls you in a bit closer than before. You close your eyes and find yourself sitting in a car as you wind down the highway with thoughts racing in your mind faster than the vehicles around you (“Scenes From Highways 1981-2009”). You see yourself joining one lover on their existential search for a place where reason still exists (“Stay Happy There”). Wherever La Dispute choose to take their story you too go. It’s vivid, it’s beautiful, it’s fully realized and absolutely enchanting in a way that tears your heartstrings from their home one at a time.

As mentioned above, La Dispute stretch their creative legs quite a bit on Rooms, and the results are mostly for the best. There is no question some will be turned away by the near singing nature of some songs, and to be perfectly honest there was a moment or two I wished for a bit more attitude on some lines, but overall the band’s decision to welcome more pop influence into their music has allowed their creations to play more cohesively. There have always been elements in La Dispute’s music tying songs together, but here the band develops a nice, melancholy groove from the opening track that eases the overall navigation of the story. 

It’s hard to quantify the efforts made by La Dispute on Rooms Of The House as risky, but in a sense that is exactly what they are. Two albums into an extremely successful career, Dreyer and his bandmates have chosen to create a work of art that is ripe with heartache and offers almost zero commercial appeal. They have taken the path so rarely traveled in the world of music and decided to risk everything on creating the best versions of themselves they believe they can possibly be at this point in time. If the story does not connect, or if people are unwilling to accept the sonic exploration of tracks like “Mayor Of Splitsville” all the headlines and appreciative messaging the band has received in recent years will turn on a dime. I’m not sure the band would care if that happened, and I’m relatively certain they would continue to make music. Still, when others would have chosen to ‘stay the course’ with their career, LD have pushed forward and risked it all, and that may be part of what make Rooms Of The House their best album to date. 

I have no idea how La Dispute will ever top this release, but there was probably a time when I never believed they would create something more enthralling or beautiful than Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair. Lucky for me, I was wrong. Rooms Of The House is a gorgeous and enchanting work of experimental music making that will surprise even on the twentieth listen. It’s an instant ‘must have’ for any fan of alternative music and will undoubtedly be battling for the top slot on many critics’ Best Of 2014 lists.

The world needs more artists like La Dispute. Please support this album so that others who dare to create music outside the norm will believe they too can find a place in this wild and crazy industry. It may break your heart, but it may also save your life. That’s the beauty of music.

Score: 9.5/10

Written by: James Shotwell Follow @utgjames

• Author
• Recent Posts

James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

Latest posts by James Shotwell (see all)

• 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