DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL: Crooked Shadows

The last time Dashboard Confessional released a new record, it was announced via Chris Carraba's Myspace page- which says a lot about how much time has passed since the band made a proper album, and even more about the era that their music truly belongs to.  Fair to say that Dashboard found more of its devoted fanbase through those early blinged-out social media precursors than it ever did through traditional radio.

Fast-forward to the Instagram age, and so many of those bands that rose to fame on the crest of your teenage Myspace page are enjoying unlikely second lives.  If Fall Out Boy can somehow reach the top of the Billboard 200 here in 2018, why can't Dashboard Confessional?  Crooked Shadows isn't quite as convincingly passionate as their early work, but rest assured, it's much better than anything Fall Out Boy is making these days.  

Chris Carraba's hyper-literate lyrics are still firmly in place, and his heart is still right where he left it: on his sleeve.  Dashboard has always traded subtlety for sincerity, but that's exactly what makes them so endearing to lovelorn teenagers.  These songs aren't made for your grown-up hi-fi system; they're made for the tinny little stereo of your first crappy car.  Heart Beat Here is probably the album highlight, it wouldn't sound out of place on their breakthrough album A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar.  Or on your Myspace page.  Which, just like Dashboard Confessional, is somehow still active.  B-