2008 Woodie Awards
Dashboard rehashes
Lugino Petrone
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Entertainment
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Screaming infidelities - It has been awhile since these lauded and popularized words were first issued from the powerfully expressive voice of Chris Carrabba, lead singer and creator of Dashboard Confessional. Since then, the banner-bearer of the emo genre has enjoyed infinite fame amongst its listeners (as well as periodic attention from the devout sycophants of MTV). Dashboard's influence can be heard from the big screen (with songs included in the movies "Shrek 2" and "Spiderman 2") to the small screen ("Scrubs" and "One Tree Hill") to the hard-hitting gameplay of "Madden NFL 07."
With such popularity institutionalized over the past eight years, it seems as if Dashboard is up against more and more expectations from its fans, which unfortunately, is turning out to be an uphill battle. After four full-length albums and several EPs, the band felt as if it was mentally tiring out. Last year's "Dusk And Summer" was suffused with the energy of grandiose instrumentation, polished and shined with lucid vocal projections. In other words it was a factory-made product, the likes of which Dashboard fans did not receive well.
With the advent of their fifth full-length album, "The Shade Of Poison Trees," the band attempts to regress to their once melodic, acoustic and modest roots. The album is an auditory portrait of lyrical minimalism, remarkably simplistic in comparison to its predecessors. "Poison Trees" is no exact facsimile of classical Dashboard, however, for although it does include the same old melodies of successful and lost relationships, it also bears the questions inherent in philosophy.
The title track turns out to be the gem of the album just as "Don't Wait" carried the torch for "Dusk And Summer." Though akin, these two songs show deep contrasts. Whereas "Don't Wait" was a thunderous and loud plea for the person to whom the song is written to do as the title says, "The Shade of Poison Trees" asks the question 'Is there time/To follow your heart/… Is there time/ To follow just one desire?'-a question following a commandment. It is almost as if Carrabba first knew the answer, but now is unsure- a true regression.
With such popularity institutionalized over the past eight years, it seems as if Dashboard is up against more and more expectations from its fans, which unfortunately, is turning out to be an uphill battle. After four full-length albums and several EPs, the band felt as if it was mentally tiring out. Last year's "Dusk And Summer" was suffused with the energy of grandiose instrumentation, polished and shined with lucid vocal projections. In other words it was a factory-made product, the likes of which Dashboard fans did not receive well.
With the advent of their fifth full-length album, "The Shade Of Poison Trees," the band attempts to regress to their once melodic, acoustic and modest roots. The album is an auditory portrait of lyrical minimalism, remarkably simplistic in comparison to its predecessors. "Poison Trees" is no exact facsimile of classical Dashboard, however, for although it does include the same old melodies of successful and lost relationships, it also bears the questions inherent in philosophy.
The title track turns out to be the gem of the album just as "Don't Wait" carried the torch for "Dusk And Summer." Though akin, these two songs show deep contrasts. Whereas "Don't Wait" was a thunderous and loud plea for the person to whom the song is written to do as the title says, "The Shade of Poison Trees" asks the question 'Is there time/To follow your heart/… Is there time/ To follow just one desire?'-a question following a commandment. It is almost as if Carrabba first knew the answer, but now is unsure- a true regression.
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