La Dispute
Rooms Of The House

Jordan Dryer walks slowly through the rooms of the apartment. There is silence. The sun filters through the lowered blinds, the dust on the shelves and mantles makes everything more desolate. Jordan is now sitting on the living room carpet, in front of him objects and photographs that tie him to the past. That tie him to the relationship abruptly cut short with his woman. I start from the end to describe the new album by La Dispute, "Rooms Of The House".

I start from the end because it's there you feel how the post-hardcore band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has matured and evolved. "Objects in Space" is a bitter and slow reflection on what that empty apartment holds. Emotions, regrets, small happy moments, little details still vivid in the mind. Photographs, books, gifts, and souvenirs seemingly insignificant but actually contain a thousand images from the past, a thousand memories. This track, the most intense and significant of the band's new album, instantly shows how La Dispute has grown. The times of streams of consciousness and sonic power are not over (fortunately), but there is more room for reflection, for calmer moments, and there is even more skill and awareness of being adults in the new lyrics. Lyrics that remain the strong point of this band. "Hudsonville, MI 1965" and "The Child We Lost 1963" delve deeply into the family dramas of the past, forcing the listener to directly live the pathos and despair of the lyrics/story that Jordan sings and shouts at us. These are powerful episodes, where post-hardcore directly connects to the violence of the previous album (that "Wildlife" from three years ago that made me fall in love with them).

The frightening and dramatic episode of the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in 2007 serves as the backdrop for the two most impetuous songs on the album, "First Reactions After Falling Through The Ice" and the incredible "35" (my favorite in a practically perfect tracklist). Words spat out and sharp, that hurt and make us feel like protagonists of the catastrophe that claimed 13 victims and injured hundreds. They make us feel directly on our skin the sensations of despair of the people who tried to save themselves by smashing the windshield with their feet, unbuckling the seatbelt while the water rose swiftly in the vehicle, and the water washed away everything.

The exponential growth of the band is remarkable, musically there is more structure, more influences that envelop the hardcore/screamo skeleton. You can feel, in all eleven tracks, more awareness of their means and capabilities, and the single "Stay Happy There" demonstrates this amply. The lyrics become increasingly intimate and dramatic, engaging the listener and making them feel part of the narrated scene. Writing dense and full of quotes, as in the intimate story of a road trip in "Scenes From The Highways 1981-2009". American landscapes, cold nights in the middle of nowhere, just driving and listening to Springsteen and Jackson Browne and reflecting on one's own life together with a loved one.

And then the two most innovative songs, the ones you don't expect, the ones you listen to and say: what was that? only to realize that they are actually the best tracks on the album. "Woman (In Mirror)" and "Woman (Reading)" startle because they are almost acoustic, almost positive and sweet. Two photographs that, through details of the girlfriend's body, her movements, her habits, and her tics, immerse us in the couple's life. Profound in the simplicity where a banal and quotidian gesture like reading a book on the couch and looking in the mirror noticing every little flaw are in fact deep gestures, ordinary habits of ordinary love.

"Rooms Of The House" is the album of La Dispute's maturity. The album that the band needed to establish and confirm themselves as one of the most penetrating, intense and emotional post-hardcore bands on the scene. By shortening the total duration of the album and including acoustic and reflective tracks, La Dispute succeeded in the difficult endeavor of creating their perfect album, their best album. Another piece that adds to an already precious and successful discography. Another album that joins the fascinating and vigorous post-hardcore scene that I love so much.