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.

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".

[2][6] 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.

[5] 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.

[16] 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.

The split featured La Dispute performing an acoustic rendition of "Last Blues For Bloody Knuckles," a song from their debut album.

"[20] On July 5, La Dispute started a Canadian tour with Make Do and Mend and No Sleep Records associates Balance and Composure.

[21] 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.

[23] 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."

[27] On September 30, La Dispute joined Thrice, Moving Mountains, and O'Brother on a tour around the United States, which finished November 11.

[36] In 2013, the band made their first tour appearance in supporting Hot Water Music across the United States in January and February.

[37] 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.

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.

[47] 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.

"[48] On August 7, 2018, the band announced they would be releasing a re-worked version of Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair for the album's 10th anniversary.

[49] Alongside this announcement, the band also released a new version of "The Castle Builders" taken from the album, and revealed they would be touring the United States with Circa Survive beginning in October 2018.

[58] On December 12th, La Dispute revealed to everyone signed up to their mailing list that they are currently working on a new album set for release in 2025.

I think the only real definition between artists exists in their intentions for creating art ..."[5] But despite this La Dispute is described as playing jazz, blues and spoken word influenced[61][62] post-hardcore[2][40][63][64] which incorporates elements which range through screamo,[63][64][65] progressive rock,[62][63][64] post-rock[66] and hardcore punk.

[11][67] The band's instrumentation is seen as "near-shoegaze guitar drones that complemented the distorted bass"[38] and this couples with their music being like "confessional diary entries; spoken and shouted-word lyrics accompanied by minor-chord harmonies".

[68] The music on their first album Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair is seen as blending elements of punk, progressive rock, emo[62] and metalcore.

[27][63] Wildlife's lyrics follow a loosely thematic collection of "short stories" examining the life struggles that shape and define us as individuals.

[64] The band drew inspiration from real issues and true stories that they themselves had confronted or heard of in their home town of Grand Rapids.

[72] The band was noted for combining the energetic dynamics of hardcore punk with the introspective elements of emo[73] and focusing on simpler chord changes.

[74] Drummer Brad Vander Lugt has said that the band with each record takes influences from other artists and musicians who are "pushing the envelope and challenging themselves.

[75] Dreyer has stated his lyrical influences are derived from fiction writers rather than from poetry, as he likes to approach writing through stories and different characters.

[5] Jacob Fricke of The Badger Herald commented on how Black Flag's third album combination of spoken word on its A-side and their typical "hard-and-fast punk" on the B-side acted as an influence on La Dispute's style.

"[78] A "self-defined movement" which The Guardian described in their article "The A-Z of pop in 2012" as having heavy lyrical emphasis and are reminiscent of the "90s emo scene.

[77] The first two Here, Hear EPs both added instrumentation to pre-existing material from poets and novelists such as Tom Robbins' Still Life with Woodpecker, Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee, and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

Every year on Christmas Day the band makes their entire catalogue of music available for free and asks for donations to a charity of their choosing.