If you would have told the Sex Pistols in 1977 that acoustic-based, journal-entry sounding music would be popular with “punk” fans, Johnny Rotten would have blown a snot rocket at you and called you crazy. He would have been wrong.
With the current trend of punk getting emotional (referred to as emo, for those in the know), Chris Carrabba (a.k.a. Dashboard Confessional) has carved his own niche.
He plays acoustic-based music that is, well, confessional. He plays songs about girls, betrayal, getting dumped, family issues, etc. Listening to this guy is like reading someone’s journal.
He’s so good that it’s easy to forget how brave he is – going out and playing for the punker kids with his super-sensitive, soft music could have been grounds for a fight. In spite of that, his popularity has grown like crazy.
The first time I saw Dashboard Confessional, over a year ago, he was opening for New Found Glory and no one had heard of him. He played a short set and made fun of himself and his “wimpy” music.
I instantly liked him. Six months later I saw him at the same venue, and although he wasn’t the headliner, most of the crowd was singing along with him.
Some kids were even crying. I’ve seen him several times since then – because he tours like a madman – and I’m amazed by the crowd growth and the volume of their singing. Sometimes the crowd even crowds Carrabba, the Dashboard himself, out.
Dashboard Confessional has been featured in Spin and Rolling Stone, and he played on the Craig Kilborn show. And the man keeps getting better. His latest release is an EP that is currently available only at live shows, but will be out in stores Dec. 18 on Vagrant Records. It’s called So Impossible, and the four songs tell a story. It’s a very good story.
In the first installment, the narrator is psyching himself up to ask the woman out. In the second installment, the narrator asks the girl out, and she agrees to go, so in the third installment, the narrator is preparing for the big date. The final installment is the culmination of the date and is about action, if you catch the drift.
Carrabba’s music is sensitive without being stupid, and genuinely nice without being corny. And this is coming from a person who adores Social Distortion and thinks the sun rises and sets on Henry Rollins’ head.
Needless to say, I’m not usually into the bleeding heart stuff. But Dashboard Confessional reeks of emotion and sincerity in the best of ways.

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