Dashboard Confessional

Dashboard Confessional was originally conceived as a solo side project of musician Chris Carrabba. The singer’s debut output, 2000’s “The Swiss Army Romance” was released whilst Carrabba was still a member of Further Seems Forever, however after their debut “The Moon Is Down”, the singer left the group to focus on Dashboard Confessional. In 2001 the sophomore album “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” was issued by Vagrant Records, and marked the arrival of a band in support of Carrabba. Now a group, with Chris Carrabba at its introspective core, Dashboard Confessional gripped the emo genre by the scruff of its neck and shook it back to life.

After a several month tour in support of the album, Carrabba et al. began collaborating with Dan Hoerner, which resulted in the EPs “So Impossible” in 2001 and “Summers Kiss” in 2002. Also in 2002 the band recorded and released an instalment for the MTV Unplugged series, which represented the band’s biggest breakthrough, with the album “MTV Unplugged 2.0” going platinum. With a line-up now consisting of Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist Johnny Lefler, and drummer Mike Marsh, the band released the full-length “A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar” in 2003. Charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the album earned strong reviews from critics, and spawned the singles “Hands Down” and “Rapid Hope Loss”. The band’s song “Vindicated” was later used on the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack and subsequently at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The full-length “Dusk and Summer” followed in 2006 featuring production from Daniel Lanois and Don Gilmore. Once again the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and was supported by a North American tour alongside Say Anything and Ben Lee. The band’s fifth full-length “The Shade of Poison Trees” arrived in October 2007, followed by “Alter the Ending” in November 2009.