Dusk and Summer -- a cohesive album divergent from the modern-ock collection of songs on 2003's A Mark, a Brand, a Mission, a Scar -- finds Dashboard Confessional's path to maturity leading them, weirdly enough, back to their roots. Whether or not this is a reaction to mainstream success, Dashboard is still very much a full band, but the album is gentler and falls much closer to the feeling of The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most. Not only does it include more tracks with simpler arrangements that occasionally now include piano and violin, the general sonic vibe resembles more of its earlier work, just more seasoned. Though the lead track and single, "Don't Wait," has one of the most grating choruses on the album -- and the song also owns a weird underlying air of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer -- the remainder of the suitably titled Dusk and Summer is very much full of satisfying heartfelt anthems that reflect its early evening beach artwork. Chris Carrabba's lyrical touchstone is again dominated by relationships, but that invigorating first date from 2003's "Hands Down" must have really taken off, since broken-heart brooding only appears sparingly. The gentle "Stolen" is a beautifully sincere song where the repeated "You have stolen my heart" is so tenderly spoken, it's like Carrabba is taking care to not wake his sweetheart sleeping beside him. Leaving one's hometown is delicately reflected upon in the piano-tinged "So Long, So Long," where Counting Crows' Adam Duritz provides wonderful guest vocals, while the band proves it can rock out in tracks like "Reason to Believe" and "Rooftops and Invitations." And damn if "Slow Decay" isn't the dirtiest, darkest song Dashboard Confessional has written to date ("Heaven Here" might have been a contender with its trashy percussion, but the song quickly goes soft and remains a muddled mess that never quite gets worked out). Dashboard Confessional may have been embraced by the masses with the über-success of Spider-Man 2's "Vindicated," but Dusk and Summer doesn't care about that. It's an album from a matured Carrabba (now in his early thirties) directly to his grassroots fan base. He may have grown beyond six-strings and a wooden stool, but when the result is this good, who can really complain?
Some of you are aware I've been planning a long-distance seduction - er, I mean MOG MEET - for some time now. Time flies when you're having fun...a year of Mog mail and two months of serious flirtation have landed my Most Trusted Mogger, Robin H, on my doorstep!Robin and I couldn't help but hit it off when we both noticed each other's Miyazaki avatars - he is Totoro and I am Shishigami - which...
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So on Scrubs a few weeks ago, they used the song "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional. The past few weeks, I wake up in the morning and turn on some vh1 and the video for said song comes on. And i'll say it- it's to the point I really like the song and am debating purchasing the record, even though I'd sworn off Dashboard. I mean, "Vindicated", ick.Alas, that leads me to wondering- are there an...
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I thought htis was a really disappointing effort by Dash. I listened to almost nothing but dashboard in the dorms my Freshman year, and alot of memories of that time that I have can be traced back to those songs. But Dusk and Summer was a sell-out and a big disappointment. I went to see Chris at the Paramount in Seattle in mid-July of this year and loved his concert, he is so soulful, yet whene...
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I don't like Dashboard Confessional. I don't even really like any emo music, but especially Dashboard. So, when I decided to listen through it I got really excited because I'd already had a bad day and I needed about 10 or so things to hate anyway. And guess what, I didn't like it. That made me happy, I would have been pretty pissed off if they had actually ever done anything worth listenin...
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So this MOG thing is pretty cool. Never really got into the social networking thing, but I'm diggin this one hardcore. Really tired, but to distracted to sleep. Too busy messing with this...Just got the new Dashboard Confessional album, Dusk and Summer, liking it so far. Been aching for new music, now that I got my ipod fixed I can fulfill that hunger.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Don't Wait |
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| 2 Reason to Believe |
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| 3 The Secret's in the Telling |
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| 4 Stolen |
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| 5 Rooftops and Invitations |
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| 6 So Long, So Long |
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| 7 Currents |
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| 8 Slow Decay |
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| 9 Dusk and Summer |
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| 10 Heaven Here |
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 "Dusk and Summer")
