Release Date: December 24, 2009
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Notes:
All tracks (save for the sequenced “drum beat” in Vass’ song) recorded by Brad in the cold, unfinished, and rather noisy basement of his house, usually in spurts between the furnace turning on and off, and with recording equipment which was purchased approximately 3 weeks before we recorded, but which did not arrive until about a week prior to commencement. As a result, Brad had to learn the in’s and out’s of the programs rather rapidly. In order to compensate for that brief learning period, Brad relied heavily on his ears and the characteristics of the recording rooms to create a different tonal atmosphere for each track, which he felt was vitally important in capturing the personality differences present in each song.
The various album covers were composed Monday December 21, 2009. The photographs were taken by David Summers at Rogers Lakewood Park in Valparaiso, Indiana. In each, Vass is seen holding a different item. The first cover (green), Vass held a painting from his 2006 High School Art Show. The second cover (red), he held a piece of cardboard used in the shipping of our Untitled 7″. The third cover (blue), he held a 125 mesh count screen used to print a navy blue La Dispute hoodie (it had a whale on it) from the fall of 2007. Vass then digitally manipulated David’s photos to exaggerate each of their color schemes and to add the necessary text.
Thanks, and be your best to everyone, no exceptions.
-La Dispute
1. nine
Notes:
All music written and performed by Vass on the following instruments: Kevin’s electric guitar in standard tuning, an electric bass, a melodica, bells, 3 books, a pencil sharpener, and a Sharpie brand permanent marker against paper.
Bass was plugged directly into Brad’s interface. Guitar was played through Kevin’s Peavey amp and microphoned. The bells and melodica were each recorded with a different microphone in a different room. The 3 books (Flash Forward by Robert J. Sawyer, Y: The Last Man (trade paperback) Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn, and Vass’ 2006 Valparaiso High School yearbook) had their pages flipped, and their covers slammed and rubbed near the internal microphone on Vass’ laptop computer, all at a separate location in Valparaiso, IN (along with the pencil sharpener and the Sharpie drawing). These sounds were then sequenced digitally into the “drum beat” of the song.
All lyrics written and read by Jordan and dedicated to AMV and all of his amazing friends (particularly those present on the 7th story all the way back then). As well as to anyone, anywhere reading this.
Lyrics:
I recall once on the church steps,
When I moved to kiss your chest,
How we paid such close attention
To each sweet and stuttered breath,
I should’ve stopped to paint our picture,
Captured honest pure affection,
Just to document the difference between attraction and connection.
I can see all of my friends and
I break into empty buildings,
When the coast was clear,
With backpacks full of beer,
We’d throw our bottles from the rooftops
At this city—it looked endless.
Guess I still don’t see the difference between real purpose and that urgent adolescence.
And I remember in a basement sharing sweat
With all these stranger boys and girls,
“We’ll change the world!” We sang,
“We’ll change the world!” But,
Nothing seems to change and
They say none of them will listen,
But I still see much more power in that basement than in elected politicians.
And if we get beaten by this winter,
If we get strangled by regret, just
Let our love of life and tension
Gasp in sweet and stuttered breaths, and
Have them lay us in a basement,
Smash some bottles on the ground, and
Say we never knew the difference between the feeling and the sound.
Remember not our faulty pieces,
Remember not our rusted parts,
It’s not the petty imperfections that define us but
The way we hold our hearts,
And the way we hold our heads,
I hope they write your names beside mine on my gravestone when I’m dead.
And when we’re dead let our voices carry on
To find a better song.
To find a better song and sing along.
2. ten
Notes:
All music written and performed by Brad on the following instruments: a Gibson electric guitar, an acoustic guitar his father used to play, various keyboards, piano, claps (his hands), stomps (his feet), 2 pieces of Styrofoam hit and rubbed together, an old beat up floor tom, a Pearl 3″ piccolo snare (snares off), finger snaps (his fingers), and an A custom 22″ ride cymbal. Brad’s song is written primarily in 5, excepting the middle section, which is in free time. Inspiration taken from jazz greats of the past and present.
All lyrics written and read/yelled by Jordan and dedicated to her again, the city of Louisville, and to Colin—for a great conversation.
Lyrics:
I promised Colin I’d keep writing, and
That’s the only promise I’ve kept, but
I have no regrets. Like,
Your empty mailbox?
It doesn’t bother me.
Not at all.
And I promised you I’d come visit soon.
Guess I should’ve made the trip, but
Money’s tight as rope and time too. And
You know how it goes better than anyone.
There isn’t ever much of anything we need or
Think we do.
So I don’t feel bad.
I don’t feel bad.
And somewhere you cut me out.
Fall in love to rinse your mouth,
But it doesn’t bother me at all.
I promised Colin I’d take off to you soon, on
An old deck in Louisville, KY.
Four stories up, Six AM and Ten deep
While they we’re sleeping, and I said,
“Keep me in check, friend.” And he tried.
But I couldn’t be.
And that small window closed, and I
Never really kept writing either, just
Stared downward at the page most times or
Thought about it real hard.
And there must be something missing in me
That she’s there and I’m still here because
That’s messed up.
But I don’t feel bad about it.
And somewhere you cut me out.
Fall in love to rinse your mouth,
But it doesn’t bother me at all.
I have tried hard to stay hopeful in the moments
They cut ropes to set you free.
I have always tried to point the finger elsewhere.
This time it points to me.
But it doesn’t bother me at all.
Each chance to lock arms, to lie long in locked eyes
And I failed to let go, to cut ties with my life.
But I’m torn, and reborn, see I died when you left.
But each word since that day was your name from my chest.
I am afraid.
But it doesn’t bother me at all.
3. eleven
Notes:
All music written and performed by Chad on the following instruments: an electric guitar strung with a used pack of strings, a bass guitar, a broken kick drum that was played with his fists, two boards with a tambourine taped to one side, and that same tambourine (with only one set of zils not broken off) played as it is intended to be, which is shaken with the hands.
Guitar and bass were both recorded through the same amplifier, a 10W solid state Peavey with a blown 8” speaker. The amp was recorded through a vintage spring reverb unit as well as an effects pedal Chad made that was used to push the 8” speaker into distortion. The guitar solo in the middle of the song was intended to be thoughtless and therefore only one take was attempted. Every instrument was recorded with the same microphone and no metronome was used to guide the tempo.
All lyrics written and performed by Jordan and dedicated to any current or former resident of the Great Lakes State, and to anyone throwing house shows or playing in a touring band.
Lyrics:
It was out on the highway.
It was warmer than blood.
It was spaces and basements.
Faces brimming with love.
It was nightfall to daybreak.
Finding a new way
It was falling asleep at the wheel while awake.
It was wasting away; delay the promise of heartache,
It was tracing the chest to the arm to the hand
That’s been wielding a knife and trying
To cut our dreams in pieces but we’ll be fine.
I feel alright, tonight.
Yeah, I feel alright tonight.
I feel (I feel alright) 4X
It was fear of foreclosure, stock in General Motors,
It was boarding up buildings, burnt; the tortured and war-torn.
It was unpaid rent checks and
All the hope left,
The hearts that still beat through the bones in our chests.
I feel alright, tonight.
I guess I feel alright tonight.
I feel like letting go (I feel)
I feel like letting go (Alright)
I feel like letting go (Tonight)
I feel like letting go, yeah.
I feel like giving in (I feel)
I feel like giving in (Alright)
I feel like giving in (Tonight)
I feel like giving in, yeah.
There’s a chorus of voices below you,
There’s a prayer of hope composed in song,
In a basement with the lights turned low and
There’s room to sing along, so sing along.
And I feel alright, tonight.
Yeah, I feel alright tonight.
I feel (I feel alright) 4X
4. twelve
Notes:
All music written and performed by Kevin on the following instruments: his Gibson SG Special plugged into a Peavey Amplifier which ran through a Marshall Cabinet into an SM57 microphone, a vintage Ludwig snare drum (played with a drum stick), a tambourine, and a cardboard box (played with his hand), all of which were recorded with an Audix I5 microphone.
All lyrics written and performed by Jordan and dedicated to Jesse, for his immensely broad shoulders.
Lyrics:
Walked into find you sitting in your kitchen, softly singing,
“Someone carry me away.”
If there’s always someone leaving.
Will we ever stop believing that the winter fits us perfectly?
Isn’t someone always coming?
Once the summers up and running
Won’t you feel warm with me?
But we’re so tired of when we don’t make mistakes
But things get torn away.
And we’re so scared of losing faith
That we can’t put things back together when they break.
Walked into find you staring out the window at a city
Holding memories of older times and how’d she’d gone away.
And we sang through smoke and rum and coke and
Promised with our pity, man, one day, I swear we’ll be ok.
Walked into find you sitting in your kitchen, softly singing,
“Someone carry me away.”