Wildlife

iTunes Review

Wildlife is a more cathartic album than La Dispute’s 2008 debut, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair. In “A Departure,” the mood is instantly darkened by detuned guitars and rumbling rhythms while Jordan Dreyer reads a crazed letter aloud, as though somebody had to hold it up for him because of the confining straightjacket. "Harder Harmonies” is where post-hardcore collides with noise rock as Dreyer verbalizes the kind of intensely disturbing thoughts that would give most people anxiety attacks. “St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues” is the first song here where Dreyer eschews yelling for actually singing something melodic. But even in those euphonic moments, he’s singing about suicide, unemployment, cancer, and murder. Wildlife is unapologetically self-absorbed. But somehow, the same kind of hyper-narcissistic personality that would repel most people is like a car crash here. When Dreyer rips his heart out in songs like “A Broken Jar,” you can’t help but slow down and look.