Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Review: La Dispute/Koji - Never Come Undone



As strange as their pairing is, La Dispute and Koji have an incredible chemistry on their recently released split titled Never Come Undone. For every strained and powerful chord struck on the two tracks composed by La Dispute, there is a matching moment to be found on Koji's half of the record. La Dispute start it off with the story told by 'Sunday Morning, at a Funeral' which shows them at a less intense - but equally emotional - composition than what is seen on their previous releases. Lead man Jordan Dreyer holds a fragile tone over the equally breakable instrumentation to create a cold atmosphere layered thick with imagery which is all but second nature for the group. The contrast between this somber track and their immense full-length Somewhere... displays the group's ability to both maintain a certain atmosphere, but not necessarily adhere to a predetermined aesthetic. This remains true on the next track, an acoustic version of one of their earlier hardcore tracks, where they strip away the screams for a slow flowing rhythm to accentuate the emotion contained in the original. While not the most substantial addition to their library, La Dispute's portion of the split is fulfilling at best, if not only for the first track.