Dashboard Is Back

Dashboard Confessional, the band behind such memorable acoustic rock ballads as "Screaming Infidelities," "Vindicated," and "Stolen," released their latest album, Alter the Ending, about a week ago. With this release singer/songwriting emo heartthrob Chris Carrabba tries to find a balance between breathy acoustic and emotional tales of heartbreak and the faster, high-gloss rock tunes, with mixed results. Summer, nostalgia, and trying to keep what you are losing (see "Blame it on the Changes") remain common themes in Carrabba's lyrics, as they have on previous albums. Nearly all of these themes show up in "Everybody Learns from Disaster," as Carrabba sings, "We were looking out for love and we were flirting with disaster/While the world fades out/We stayed in the sun too long… And we lit the van with dreams until the sun turned into cinders." "Get Me Right" provides a pretty strong album opener; however, its religious overtones aren't cohesive with the rest of the album. However, it transitions smoothly into "Until Morning" and "Everybody Learns from Disaster," both of which are enjoyable, though I'll admit they offer up different forms of cliché. "Even Now" is striking in its sparse instrumentation and simplistic, nakedly emotional lyrics, similar to the band's early single "Screaming Infidelities." The lead single from Alter the Ending, "Belle of the Boulevard," however, is a bit disappointing, and lacks a certain necessary momentum to carry it to the level of success reached by some the band's previous releases. Upon first listen, my quandary with Dashboard Confessional is always that there appears to be very little variety among the songs, in terms of instrumentation, lyrics, and pretty much everything else. There's a lot of love lost (or about to be lost). Sure, it can be sexy, but it's undifferentiated, and feels a bit generic and definitely highly romanticized ("These words are tearing us apart… I've paid the price with my soul/Oh save me." It's just too much for me). However, after a few more listens, I do start to appreciate the style and lyrics, which are very heartfelt and poetic, if not a bit idealized. "Hell on the Throat" is a beautiful song, and a great album closer. Though the style and quality of the songs fluctuates a bit over the course of Alter the Ending, it's still a satisfying CD overall, with a few gems of songs hidden here and there. The deluxe version of the album is a two-disc release, consisting of 12 full-band tracks and then the acoustic versions of each song. Why it was necessary to record acoustic versions of every track I don't really know, since they're strikingly similar to the originals. In my book, acoustic equals person plus acoustic guitar. Apparently Carrabba interprets it to mean person plus guitar, piano, and some strings here and there. I could have done with just a few acoustic bonus tracks, like "Water and Bridges" and "Even Now," and been just fine. Dashboard Confessional began as a side project for Carrabba, from the now-defunct band Further Seems Forever. Carrabba at first played only intimate, acoustic sets, but eventually built Dashboard into a full band ensemble. Carrabba will begin a 13 date acoustic tour with New Found Glory, who will also be playing an acoustic set, beginning on Nov. 30 in California.

Grade: B-

Download: "Until Morning," "Even Now," "Hell on the Throat"