CD Review: Dashboard Confessional "Dusk and Summer"

On the first listen to Dashboard Confessional's new album Dusk and Summer you'll notice the band's sound has moved in much different direction from past efforts. Gone are the days of the hushed whisper behind delicately strummed acoustic chords. Those have been replaced by pounding electric guitar chords, a la the opening to the Spiderman 2 soundtrack Confessional hit "Vindicated," and lead singer and songwriter Chris Carrabba's piercing wail. First single "Don't Wait" is Exhibit A of this technique.

However, repeated times through this disc reveal something much darker and mature is going on here. First of all, Carrabba has officially grown up, by emo-hearthrob standards anyway. Maybe it was that opening gig on U2's last tour. Whereas his previous hits relied on standard high school poetry 001, like the "your hair/your hair is everywhere" line delivered to a departed lover in the breakthrough hit "Screaming Infidelities" so many years ago, now the singer has at least graduated basic human biology 101 -- witness the "my capillaries scream" line from "Reason to Believe" -- which is destined to become the next mass-singalong at future Dashboard shows.

Similarly, "The Secret's in the Telling" would be nothing more than a song about falling in love out at band camp -- if it weren't for Carrabba's plea for sex with the girl because, after all, "tonight may be the last chance we'll be given." And not only that but, "we are compelled to do what we have been forbidden." Who knew Chris was such a charmer?

And yet, somewhere between adding the louder guitars and an increased vocabulary, he's able to muster up the albums true stand-out song, "So Long, So Long" which is, of all things, a melancholy ode to summer love. True, the song was written awhile ago and has become a staple of the bands live performance, but with Counting Crows singer Adam Duritiz along for the ride this time, it's really the only track that captures all of Dashboard's best moments. It's dark, it's aching, yet it retains a measure of hope. It's odd that the songs greatest strength is the added texture Duritiz provides, and it shows Carrabba still has a knack for crafting elegant songs that don't require him belting out his trademark yelp in order to make an impact. If only the rest of this collection had followed suit.

The Verdict: ** 1/2

CD Review: AFI "Decemberunderground"

After years of struggling through the Bay Area punk scene opposite bands like Green Day and Rancid, AFI approached rock stardom with 2003's Sing the Sorrow. The disc had several hits, but none was bigger than "Girl's Not Grey" a crafty bit of arena rock that seperated the band from the past decade of its dreary existence. Now, eye-liner wearing frontman Davey Havok and his band are back with Decemberunderground the catchiest piece of goth-emo-rock this side of My Chemical Romance -- with whom they share more than just a love of black or pink nail polish.

While MCR is more in-your-face, AFI has gone the opposite route, and indulge themselves with songs that are obviously inspired by The Cure. The one notable exception to this rule is lead single, and soon-to-be arena rock anthem "Miss Murder." Nothing has sounded more immediate or better this year. The track starts out with a baseline hi-jacked from Green Day's "Longview" and it doesn't let up, complete with a chorus shout of "Hey's" in the background, lending the song a creepy sing-along quality. A "Hollaback Girl" for the goth crowd, if you will.

It would have been nice if AFI (A Fire Inside) could have completely abandonded their punk roots. Instead, they feel obligated to lay down two throw-away tracks that may or may not appease their more "hardcore" fans, with "Kill Caustic" and "Affliction" being the offenders.

Thankfully, the rest of the album is sickeningly sweet -- at least by AFI standards. "The Killing Lights" is the other highlight alongside "Miss Murder," with its drama-drenched lyrics and a bridge of "Am I beautiful...Am I usable?" which bleeds into another breathless chorus. In other places, "The Interview" is a down-in-the-dumps ballad that will doubtless get the lighters out at their shows this summer, and the beautiful "Summer Shudder" and "Live Like Winter," are both Cure inspired mid-tempo rockers.

"Hardcore" fans will bitch and moan that the band has left its punk-roots, the rest of us will be happy we finally have some rock music to listen to that doesn't sound like Three Days Grace.

The Verdict: ***

CD Review: Angels and Airwaves "We Don't Have To Whisper"

By now, you've heard "The Adventure" by Tom Delonge (of the now defunct Blink-182) and his new band, Angels and Airwaves -- and seen their flashy AVA logo which looks identical to that of American Airlines. But that's neither here nor there. "The Adventure" is far and away the best song on We Don't Have To Whisper the bands new tribute album to U2.

Anyone could see this transformation coming a mile away. Blink 182's self-titled last and best album left the punk sound altogether to create a subliminal rock record which even featured Robert Smith, lead singer of the Cure, on one cut.

Earlier, Delonge had formed a band named Box Car Racer which would turn out to be the forefather of this less impressive effort.

It's not that it's that bad. But the real issue is: why? Why make an album with electronic flourishes that were groundbreaking in, say, 1985. What's old is not necessarily new again -- or better for that matter. DeLonge's voice is another weakness. In years past, his whiny pitch was fine when he sang lyrics like "The state looks down on sodomy/ I never wanna act my age/what's my age again." But now he's absolutely wrecking lyrics like "And now I’ll stop the storm if it rains / I’ll light a path far from here /I’ll make your fear melt away /And the world we know disappear." Please.

This album started out with a lofty concept: recreate The Joshua Tree. But just because you copy the sound of an era doesn't necessarily make it a successful piece of music. Angels and Airwaves want to sound like they have an edge, when in fact the only band that really has him is the one people will choose to listen to over this poorly executed, over-hyped album full of vapid songs.

The Verdict *