Occasionally bands will surpass being musicians and become artists. La Dispute aren’t making music. They’re making art. The band returns after six years with their self-produced 14 track, full-length, No One Was Driving The Car. It was neat how they launched this album through songs grouped in “acts” via a staggered rollout of EPs before the full drop. The album is a concept piece that is heavily inspired by the 2017 psychological thriller “First Reformed”. La Dispute comes back not just to play, but to haunt.
From the first track (“I Shaved My Head”), you feel disorientation. The self you used to recognize is blurry in the mirror. That contrast between small domestic change and existential drift sets the tone of this whole collection of tracks.
The lyrics and vibes of this album are intense. Overall, the album deals with the unhappiness that lingers in this looming apocalypse, which has been worsened by the advancement of technology. In fact, the title of the album originated from a quote a police officer stated that vocalist Jordan Dreyer read in a news article. It was a story about a lethal self-driving Tesla crash. The event raised questions for him about the amount of control we have in our own lives.
The music combined with the story-driven lyrics takes you on a journey. Dreyer yells with more primal sense and sings in a more refined way than previous albums. The guitars even have a sharper edge than before. There’s still the mix of post-hardcore, spoken word, and emo that you’ve come to love from the band. Just like in life, there are shifts between raw intensity and quieter, introspective moments. Musically, this is La Dispute at their most varied.
But it’s not perfect. Some tracks stumble in the slower moments; Dreyer’s rasps or whispered verses sometimes drift without landing hard enough. The sprawling scope with its acts, interludes, and field recordings helps build atmosphere, but occasionally the weight of all that ambition leaks into fatigue. Still, even in the weaker stretches, the emotional honesty keeps you plugged in. This is their most urgent record in years. If you want chaos, introspection, rage, and sorrow all tangled in one, this is the album for you. And yes, expect to carry little cuts in your heart after the last track.
The narrative and atmosphere of this album is immersive. It was difficult for me to narrow it down to my top three tracks off this. However, I would have to go with “Steve” (pure post-hardcore intensity), “Environmental Catastrophe Film” (an almost 9 minutes haunting emotional journey) and “Man With Hands And Ankles Bound” (a spell-binding impassioned story). Give this a spin and you won’t be disappointed, but you will feel like you’re doing a séance with your own regrets.
Occasionally bands will surpass being musicians and become artists. La Dispute aren’t making music. They’re making art. The band returns after six years with their self-produced 14 track, full-length, No One Was Driving The Car. It was neat how they launched this album through songs grouped in “acts” via a staggered rollout of EPs before the full drop. The album is a concept piece that is heavily inspired by the 2017 psychological thriller “First Reformed”. La Dispute comes back not just to play, but to haunt.
From the first track (“I Shaved My Head”), you feel disorientation. The self you used to recognize is blurry in the mirror. That contrast between small domestic change and existential drift sets the tone of this whole collection of tracks.
The lyrics and vibes of this album are intense. Overall, the album deals with the unhappiness that lingers in this looming apocalypse, which has been worsened by the advancement of technology. In fact, the title of the album originated from a quote a police officer stated that vocalist Jordan Dreyer read in a news article. It was a story about a lethal self-driving Tesla crash. The event raised questions for him about the amount of control we have in our own lives.
The music combined with the story-driven lyrics takes you on a journey. Dreyer yells with more primal sense and sings in a more refined way than previous albums. The guitars even have a sharper edge than before. There’s still the mix of post-hardcore, spoken word, and emo that you’ve come to love from the band. Just like in life, there are shifts between raw intensity and quieter, introspective moments. Musically, this is La Dispute at their most varied.
But it’s not perfect. Some tracks stumble in the slower moments; Dreyer’s rasps or whispered verses sometimes drift without landing hard enough. The sprawling scope with its acts, interludes, and field recordings helps build atmosphere, but occasionally the weight of all that ambition leaks into fatigue. Still, even in the weaker stretches, the emotional honesty keeps you plugged in. This is their most urgent record in years. If you want chaos, introspection, rage, and sorrow all tangled in one, this is the album for you. And yes, expect to carry little cuts in your heart after the last track.
The narrative and atmosphere of this album is immersive. It was difficult for me to narrow it down to my top three tracks off this. However, I would have to go with “Steve” (pure post-hardcore intensity), “Environmental Catastrophe Film” (an almost 9 minutes haunting emotional journey) and “Man With Hands And Ankles Bound” (a spell-binding impassioned story). Give this a spin and you won’t be disappointed, but you will feel like you’re doing a séance with your own regrets.
