We weighed in on Chris Carrabba’s bright-eyed and achy-breaky “Thick As Thieves,” but on the eve of its release, there’s a chance to hear The Shade Of Poison Trees in all its unplugged glory at Dashboard Confessional’s MySpace. We haven’t listened very long, but we have some opinions on the Floridian’s lyrical and emotional flourishes. Pass the hankie, please.
“Where There’s Gold” informs us all Kanye-like that “where there’s gold, there’s a gold digger.” It pairs well with “Matters Of Blood And Connections,” another tune dealing with money: “Why do you speak with that accent now? / Everyone knows you’re not from the streets. / You went to prep school in Cambridge, / with daughters and sons of the privileged elite.” Open question, emo kids, open questions…
As always, the best songs seem to be the more heart-crushed/heat-craving unclean breaks and the youthful revolts (e.g. the falsetto-tinted title track, “I Light My Own Fires Now,” “Widow’s Peak”), hence the fitting bloody apple cover art: so Edenic, so loss-of-innocence, so back-to-school. The creepy thing here, considering Dashboard’s main demographic? Dude’s 32. Wonder if the FBI’s monitoring his MySpace comment section (like can some of these kids even get behind a wheel to have a dashboard confessional?). And sometimes he goes too far creating overblown extended metaphors (see “Little Bombs”) when simple human emotion might work better with the bottled energy. It’s like, the kids aren’t coming here for high literature– they want your high-school poetry, even if you are old enough to be their teacher. Oh, maybe that’s what the apple’s all about.
The Shade Of Poison Trees is out 10/2 (tomorrow) on Vagrant Records.
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ugh. are you even fucking trying anymore?
If you want REAL emo music check out THIS!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHYP-GypcdI
I assume ^ you are speaking of Stereogum’s prose. I believe they stopped trying a long time ago.
Seriously, this cutesy writing has got to stop.
IT’S EMBARRASSING.
I enjoy this site’s writing. If you are looking for pedantic and self-satisfied, try pitchforkmedia.
i didn’t realize my 15 year-old sister was a correspondent for this site.
Listen to the album. It’s better 98% of what’s currently called emo (Fall Out Boy, et al). It is a bit wussy though.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately: who’s career would I rather see ended, Chris Carrabba or Kenan Thompson’s. Now I’m sure I’m going with Thompson’s. At least Chris made me laugh with this album.
Stolen from some other guy on Stereogum
i’m talking both about the prose (merely a string of quotes and song titles coupled with obvious statements) and the fact that there is a PE for the new dashboard confessional album…i don’t know if it is supposed to be ironic that this blog would cover dashboard (given the nature of the music and the fan base that this post mocks), or if the guy is a genuine fan who is embarrassed to just say that he’s into the record…
i’m on your side SG. i promise. i love this blog…i’m just saying…
Give him credit for recognizing that the arena stunts weren’t working for him, and continuing to progress (working in Postal Service-esque beats and some full-band arrangements) while bringing the sound back to his most successful incarnation. It’s decent.
fucking idiots. they wrote it in a conversational, comedic tone on purpose. they wanted it to sound like people talk, like as if you were actually making fun of this album with your buddy. jesus christ, let them casually make fun of dashboard confessional. it isn’t too much to ask.
check out computer vs. banjo
Really, you could do a lot worse than Dashboard Confessional that’s not the problem with this piece.
I think the problem is also not the style or the “cutesy”-ness of the writing. No one would complain if these premature reviews actually contained, well, reviews.
These pieces are the some of the most non-committal, non-opinionated pieces of music journalism out there.
Noting things about the record and giving vague hints about the band’s progression or sound doesn’t do much to help us, the reader, decide whether or not we should illegally download this bastard (which is why 80% of us are here.)
I know it’s tough to put out a review of something with no professional precedent. It’s much easier pit a record against its “hype” and chew out an opinion from whether or not it is “disappointing”, “surprising” or “deserving of the hype.”
We also know you don’t really want to risk not liking the “hip” record and sounding like you don’t get it. If you don’t like it and then grow to like it after the glowing reviews come in, we’ll forgive you. This has happened to all of us.
The truth is, we come here because we want to know whether or not you bastards like it and how much you like it. Is it worth getting? How many songs do you like on it? That kind of stuff.
If you write these too prematurely to know that then let the fucker bake a little longer.
This has the potential to be the best feature on this or any indie-blog. Put your balls on the table!
Moral Debate said it fantastically. These PE’s always get me excited then leave me totally unfulfilled.
>Noting things about the record and giving
>vague hints about the band’s progression
>or sound doesn’t do much to help us, the
> reader, decide whether or not we should
>illegally download this bastard
Wow, what a lazy/spoiled fuck you are, Moral Debate. Ever hear about filling in some blanks on your own before you break a sweat downloading something? Sheesh.
Carraba has waaay too many tattoos to be such a pussy.
I think that’s kind of the point of the PE – it’s premature so obviously Scott hasn’t had time to listen to it 30 times and fully absorb it. PE is in essence a cursory look. It’s more of a preview than a review, eh?
Hack again?!
This is a terrible review. I own The Shade of Poison Trees and ive seen him perform some of the songs live. Chris Carrabba is an extrememy talented musician and gifted lyricist. This album is a great album. As far as the demographic, i’m legal and so were all the other fans who were at his concert the other night, which had a bar. The fact that he’s 32 has nothing to do with anything, and should not take away from his talent. Ever heard of the who, or Paul McCartney? They performed up untill their 60’s! Along with many others.
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A+ review for the chuckles
this album was terrible… couldn’t even hold a candle to the incredibly sold out dusk and summer.
next.