He’s been called an underground rock star. He’s been called the poster boy for emo. His name is Chris Carrabba, but to his fans he’s simply just Dashboard. The punk rocker that picked up an acoustic guitar and told his tales of woe winning thousands of young fans. Since his breakthrough hit 2000’s The Places You’ve Come to Fear the Most his fan base has grown to large numbers because of his songs about relationships and heartbreak. Carrabba has become a cult hero amongst the emo generation.
Carrabba started out small as just a man and his acoustic guitar with 2000’s The Swiss Army Romance, creating a formula that would lead his career. The idea was simple enough, the music was basic, and the lyrics were personal. The album would become a emo classic, making a formula that many others would follow. “A Plain Morning” would literally become a new “Going Away on a Jet Plane” for the emo generation. The Swiss Army Romance would create a cult following for Carrabba and The Places You’ve Come to Fear the Most solidify it.
Dashboard’s latest and greatest effort A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar is his major label debut. The album is by far his most intimate and touching yet but there is one big difference that will be noticeable to his die hard fans, Carrabba is no longer a solo man with a acoustic guitar he has a band backing him up. A move like this could be compared to the likes of Bob Dylan when he “plugged in” with his album Don’t Look Back.The opening track “Hands Down” tells how of the “best date” Carrabba ever had. It’s that song that’ll remind you of that summer of all summers like Meatballs, that one crush or that special first kiss. “And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist/And you kissed me like you meant it/And I knew that you meant it/You meant it” is sung in the last chorus joyfully by Carrabba. The song originally appeared on 2001’s So Impossible EP and like other Dashboard songs that have gotten facelifts, this one is exceptionally good. Summer romance is another theme in “Carry This Picture” and the party hook up “As Lovers Go” is either going to make you want go home with that cute individual that’s been staring at you on the weekend or make you cry out in god forsaken happiness. The angst songs still tend to be Dashboard’s best material, the ones about heartbreak and betrayal are always the juiciest. In “Am I Missing?”, Carrabba deals with where to go and what to do after the end of a relationship. “Is there anything looking for/Is there anything worth loving/Worth living for/Worth lying for” is belted by Carrabba as a backup vocal questions if his body has been found yet. Other songs that stand out are the anthems like “Several Ways to Die Trying”, which speaks of a lost generation looking for meaning in a meaningless world. Even though, Carrabba is now playing with a band that doesn’t mean he’s given up his acoustic guitar. The sensitive ballad “Ghost of a Good Thing” speaks about the troubles of long term relationship and keeping love alive. “Maybe it’s love, but it’s like you said/ Love is like a role that we play.” is sung by Carrabba so tenderly it’s going to have you reaching for tissues. “If You Can’t Leave it Be, Might as Well Make It Bleed”, Dashboard’s attempt to “rock out” is the album’s weakest track. It sounds more like a bad cover punk bad with muted guitar chords and wailing screams. The song also comes out of nowhere, so much that it doesn’t seem to belong on such a intimate alum like this one. I don’t know where a song about picking scabs would fit on a album about heartbreak and relationships.
A Mark. a Mission, a Brand, a Scar is by far Dashboard’s greatest effort yet, his most personal and intimate album. Carrabba is just like any other kind of artist, you can’t expect his music to stay the same forever. Carrabba has got a winner here, he’s a new man with a new sound. So in layman’s terms, it’s the same old Dashboard but just a little different. It’s still the song about your girlfriend. It’s still the song about your boyfriend. It’s still make out music and it’s still breakup music. But to some of the fans, this album may be disappointing because as of now the man and his acoustic guitar are on a permanent vacation.