Test Spin: Dashboard Confessional

Dashboard Confessional fans: have no fear. The band’s sixth album is not the deviation in style the title seems to suggest. The songs follow Dashboard’s traditional themes of heartbreak and anguish, relying heavily on vocals and acoustics. As always, Dashboard manages to blend deeply personal and emotional lyrics with an upbeat tempo. However, the album as a whole comes off as homogeneous, and the lyrics often veer towards the cliché and melodramatic. But as on all Dashboard albums, there are a couple standout singles. The sincere lyrics and catchy chorus of “Belle of the Boulevard” make it worth a listen. The final song, “Hell on the Throat,” attests to the band’s continuing maturation and renders a touching portrait of alienation and solitude without reverting to the commercialized pop of some of Dashboard’s other songs. Still, despite the notable singles, the album’s homogeneous feel and its lack of instrumental or structural innovations are disappointing for a band on its sixth album. Skip the album, download the singles.