Big is always better right? Well that’s what we’re always told, yet the new Dashboard Confessional album may well dispell that myth. This record sounds HUGE. Gone are the days of Mr Carabba wistfully strumming his guitar and singing about nursing his broken heart. ‘Dusk and Summer’ is a full band record with so many laters of production it’s more shiny than a big shiny thing. And sadly, the end result is more dad-rock than emo-rock. This is easily the worst DC album yet.
Save a couple of songs, including the ‘bonus track’ ‘Vindicated’, this is soulless and emotionless, the complete opposite of what made the band famous in the first place. If you’ve seen the band’s unplugged session, you’ll know exactly what DC mean to so many people. Chris’ songs and his vocals just strike a chord with people. As a solo artist his shows were more like a sermon, there was a connection that seemed different to almost any other artist. Sadly, that’s now gone and in its place is a vapid bunch of songs that are polished beyond perfection.
‘Don’t Wait’ is excellent, but as an opener it lulls you into a false sense of security. The rest of the record really doesn’t live up to these heady heights and by the end you;re left wondering how someone could have penned ‘The Places…’ and then followed it up with this overrated made-for-MTV record. Too many of the songs simply blend in with one another. There are too many layers of guitars or vocals and even Chris’ voice doesn’t sound as strained or impassioned as it has done on previous albums. Everything that made his band stand out has been stripped away…and the end result is really disappointing. ‘Dusk and Summer’ will inevitably pick up new fans, maybe older fans, but I think those who were there are the beginning may well have been turned off by DC’s ‘new’ sound.
Paul