La Dispute (band)
La Dispute is an American post-hardcore band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, formed in 2004. The current lineup is vocalist Jordan Dreyer, drummer Brad Vander Lugt, guitarist Chad Morgan-Sterenberg, guitarist Corey Stroffolino, and bass guitarist Adam Vass.
The band released their debut EP, Vancouver, in 2006 on Friction Records and then temporarily signed to Forest Life Records where they released Here, Hear. and Untitled 7" in May 2008. Their debut album Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair was released in conjunction with Here, Hear II. on No Sleep Records in November 2008. Here, Hear III., The Worth of the World and Never Come Undone then followed before releasing their second studio album, Wildlife. Their third studio album, Rooms of the House, was released on March 18, 2014. Panorama, their fourth studio album, was released on March 22, 2019, almost exactly five years later. Their fifth studio album, No One Was Driving the Car, was released on September 5, 2025.
History
Formation, early years and ''Vancouver'' (2004–2007)
La Dispute was formed in Grand Rapids, Michigan in late 2004 by cousins Jordan Dreyer and Brad Vander Lugt, Kevin Whittemore, Derek Sterenberg and Adam Kool; Dreyer was never a singer and did not write any music prior to forming the band but was a writer, primarily writing poetry and short fiction. During this time the band mainly played house shows or at the Division Avenue Arts Collective in Downtown Grand Rapids. Chad Sterenberg replaced his older brother Derek in 2006 the day after the release of their debut EP, Vancouver, which was the only release the band produced while on the Friction Records roster. Indiana based friend of the band Adam Vass later joined in 2007. It wasn't until the loss of Derek Sterenberg and Adam Kool that they took the project seriously.''Here, Hear. I, II & III'' and ''Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair'' (2008–2009)
La Dispute signed to Southern California-based record label No Sleep Records in early 2008. Jordan Dreyer describes this move to the label as sharing a similar perspective on music, stating: "The primary attraction with No Sleep for us was that it was obvious through talking to Chris that his intentions with the label were in line with ours as a band." To fill in the gap between their debut release Vancouver and their upcoming album the band released an exclusive vinyl record, Untitled 7", consisting of two tracks which were extra songs from the writing sessions of their debut album. Also in May, the EP Here, Hear. was released, which would soon follow sequels, with Dreyer stating: "Here Hear we did as a challenge to ourselves creatively as a way to expand our horizons and also broaden the context for anyone else who is interested in checking who we are as a band". On November 11, 2008, La Dispute released their debut album Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair through No Sleep Records. La Dispute recorded the album at StudiOtte in Grand Rapids with Joel and Troy Otte. The album's lyrical themes base around an Asian folk tale regarding the plight of a prince and a princess who are separated after marriage by a river they are not allowed to cross. The album doesn't use this concept strictly and uses it as more of a "jumping off point for similar struggles that people face." It was well received by critics, with positive reviews from AbsolutePunk, Alternative Press, Punknews.org, and Sputnikmusic. They played three release shows to support the album in their home state of Michigan: on November 8 at Skelletones, November 14 at the UAW Retirees Hall in Traverse City, and November 22 at the Howell Opera House in Howell. Their debut album was released simultaneously with the second extended play in their "Here, Hear experiment": Here, Hear II. The EP also accompanied the first 300 sales of the album.On December 25, 2009, La Dispute Released Here, Hear III. The EP was self-released via digital download off their Bandcamp page. Released as well on Bandcamp were Hear, Hear., Hear, Hear II., Untitled 7" and a two track Christmas EP titled Winter Tour Holiday CD-R, which featured two Christmas songs: a cover of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and an original song, "First Snow in Silent Grand Rapids". Although they became free to download, it was possible to donate money; all donations went to benefit the Well House Community Living of Grand Rapids, a non-profit outreach program in Grand Rapids that provides emergency shelter and permanent housing for homeless families. The period of donation ended on January 17, 2010, and $1715 was raised for Well House. All subsequent donations after the period have gone towards covering recording expenses for the band.
''The Worth of the World'', ''Never Come Undone'' and ''Wildlife'' (2010–2012)
Throughout April and May 2010, La Dispute supported Alexisonfire across the United States alongside Trash Talk and Therefore I Am. La Dispute and Touché Amoré released a 7" extended play titled Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World on September 14, 2010, which was co written by all members of both bands and features vocal cross-overs from the vocalists. Progress on the recording of La Dispute's second studio album began as early as November 2010. The album was recorded in pieces to wrap around their intense tour schedule, starting with the recording of instrumentation for six tracks in Drasik Studios in Chicago. In April, they revealed that the album would be 14 tracks long, and revealed that they had been progressively modifying the music over the length of the tour. La Dispute accompanied Alexisonfire again on a Canadian leg of a tour in November and December 2010. On this tour, they played alongside Norma Jean and Four Year Strong.The band went into StadiumRed studio in New York City in March 2011 to record the remainder of the album. Andrew Everding, the keyboardist of Thursday and producer Joe Pedulla served as recording engineers at both studios. On May 3, 2011, La Dispute released a split EP with American acoustic singer-songwriter Andrew Koji Shiraki, titled Never Come Undone. The split featured La Dispute performing an acoustic rendition of "Last Blues For Bloody Knuckles," a song from their debut album. Their second contribution was an original song titled "Sunday Morning, at a Funeral." On July 5, La Dispute started a Canadian tour with Make Do and Mend and No Sleep Records associates Balance and Composure. The focus of this tour was to promote the release of Never Come Undone.
La Dispute, Touché Amoré and Norwegian hardcore punk band Death Is Not Glamorous completed a European tour, which started July 27, 2011 and finished August 12, to coincide with both La Dispute's and Touché Amoré's appearances at Hevy Festival in the United Kingdom, Fluff Fest in Czech Republic and Ieperfest in Belgium in 2011. On August 23, La Dispute announced the title of their second album, and revealed the track listing and album art. The album, titled Wildlife, was released on October 4, 2011. Lyrically, Jordan Dreyer has described the album as being "... set-up as a collection of sort of stories/poems annotated by the author and split into thematic sections by four monologues." Vocalist Jordan Dreyer considers the album a lyrical experiment with elements they intended to use in the first album. The announcement of the new album was accompanied by a complete re-design of their website, themed around the album's "Wildlife" design. Two singles were released digitally prior to its release, "The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit" and "Harder Harmonies". On September 30, La Dispute joined Thrice, Moving Mountains, and O'Brother on a tour around the United States, which finished November 11.
Throughout 2012, La Dispute embarked on a series of headlining tours, which acted as promotion for Wildlife, with tour legs in Europe, Australia and North America respectively. La Dispute's European tour took place in January and early February, with support from Former Thieves. Their Australian tour started four days after their European tour ended, and instead of having a permanent support band they had a different lineup every night that was composed of local bands. The North American leg of the tour started in late March and lasted until the beginning of May. This tour had support from Balance And Composure, Sainthood Reps, and All Get Out. They made several festival appearances in the summer of 2012 including Download Festival Greenfield Festival, Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival. After their Wildlife tour the band spent 2012 on a vacation of sorts. On April 13 and 14 respectively the band recorded two different live studio sessions, with Audiotree and Violitionist Sessions, making their last tour appearances in September and October on a European tour with Title Fight and Make Do And Mend.
''Rooms of the House'' and departure from No Sleep Records (2013–2017)
In 2013, the band made their first tour appearance in supporting Hot Water Music across the United States in January and February. La Dispute's performance on the tour was met with positive reception, with comparison to the other bands on the lineup, they were considered "more on the hardcore side of the spectrum." Before the tour started on January 12, the band performed at The Crofoot to headline a two-stage show with bands Into it. Over it., Koji, The Swellers, Cheap Girls, Mixtapes, Pity Sex, Tiger! Tiger!, and Pentimento In June 2013 the band toured Australia for the fourth time being supported by Pianos Become the Teeth. The idea of Pianos Become the Teeth supporting La Dispute came about as the members of both bands are close friends and had wished to tour together, however their touring schedules have always clashed. On the band's website a countdown timer was added that hinted at a new album announcement on December 16, 2013. On December 16, along with a completely revamped website, La Dispute announced that their new album Rooms of the House will be released on March 18, 2014, and will be co-produced by Will Yip. They also announced that they left No Sleep Records and started their own label, Better Living. The album was released via Big Scary Monsters in the UK and Europe.In April 2014, founding member and guitarist Kevin Whittemore departed from the band. He played his final show with the band on April 14, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Throughout 2014 the band played over 70 shows in 16 countries around the world. ROTH was noted in several end of year lists including: Paste's "50 Best Albums of 2014", Consequence of Sound's "Top 50 Songs of 2014" and Alternative Press' "10 Essential Albums of 2014". The band was also listed as one of Paste magazines "top 25 live acts".
In June 2016, the band toured around the United States and Canada with Thrice and Gates. Then, later that month Thrice announced a tour of the US and Canada with La Dispute and Nothing, Nowhere from September to October 2016.
When asked by Substream Magazine in 2016 whether their documentary "Tiny Dots" was the end of a chapter or novel, La Dispute responded, "We did record the album, the film is a celebration of that, but at the same time there is no obvious next step for the band. We don't know if this is the end of the novel, but we figure then that this documentary is a fitting way to close it."
Following the album’s 10th anniversary, a previously unreleased B-side, Elster Stares the Desert Down, was released on May 30, 2024.