Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Florida. Formed in 1999, it originated as a solo project of Chris Carrabba while he was in the band Further Seems Forever; after performing on the debut albums of both artists, he left Further Seems Forever to concentrate on Dashboard Confessional. By 2002, Carrabba recruited three other musicians for Dashboard Confessional, including former Further Seems Forever bandmate Jerry Castellanos.
Current lineup:
- Chris Carrabba - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano (1999–Present)
- John Lefler - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano (2002–Present)
- Scott Shoenbeck - Bass, Backing Vocals (2002–Present)
- Mike Marsh - Drums, Backing Vocals (2002–Present)
Former members:
- Dan Bonebrake - Bass, Backing Vocals
- John Ralston - Guitar (touring)
- Mike Stroud - Strings (touring)
- Andrew Marshall - Guitar (touring)
- Susan Sherouse - Violin (touring)
Studio albums:
- The Swiss Army Romance (2000)
- The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2001)
- A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar (2003)
- Dusk and Summer (2006)
- The Shade of Poison Trees (2007)
- Alter the Ending (2009)
- Crooked Shadows (2018)
The band exhibits the following tropes:
- Album Title Drop - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
and Dusk and Summer- The band's name itself is derived from a lyric in "The Sharp Hint of New Tears": "On the way home, this car hears my confessions."
- Alternative Rock
- I Am the Band - Chris Carrabba, initially.
- Scary Musician, Harmless Music: Chris Carrabba has teen idol good looks and tattoos up and down his arms. His music seems to fit more with his big Disney eyes than with his "badass" ink.
The band's songs exhibit the following tropes:
- Audience Participation Song: Frankly, the only reason for attending a Dashboard show is to sing the songs back to them. This happens enough that Chris Carrabba will regularly schedule an "acoustic" tour in which he just shows up on a stage with his guitar and lets the audience sing for him.
- His standard opening line upon taking the stage: "Let's sing some songs together"
- Blessed with Suck: The woman in "Belle of the Boulevard" has Head-Turning Beauty deconstructed instead, where it's implied that her beauty and seemingly perfect life is masking the unhappy life she has, and ends up engaging in shady things such as alcohol and is seen as "easy" by men.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Possibly in "The Secret's In The Telling." Lyrics like 'we keep this secret in our blood' would, at least, seem to imply this trope.
- Concept Album: The So Impossible EP is this. The protagonist pines for a girl in "For You To Notice"; the girl invites him to a party with her in "So Impossible"; he prepares for the party in "Remember to Breathe"; and "Hands Down" recounts the happy conclusion of the date.
- Dreaming of a White Christmas: The music video for the Dashboard Confessional song "Stolen" shows it snowing at the Hotel Del Coronado in... Coronado, CA. It NEVER snows in Coronado. Ever.
- Gold Digger: "Where There's Gold..." is all about this trope.
- Love Nostalgia Song: "Hands Down"
- New Sound Album: The first two albums were primarily acoustic with some electric backing. A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar and Alter The Ending dip into full on alternative rock, with Dusk and Summer and The Shade of Poison Trees retain the acoustic/electric mix.
- Perishing Alt-Rock Voice: Chris can sure hit some notes there.
- Shout-Out: In "Matters Of Blood and Connection":Chris: Draw well from the funds in the trust, thanks to the fathers of fortunate sons.
- Stepford Smiler: "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most" is about a Type A."Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself, hidden in the public eye
such a stellar monument to loneliness.
Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes,
perfect makeup, but you're barely scraping by. - What the Hell Is That Accent?: Asked to the person mentioned in "Matters Of Blood and Connections", who uses a fake accent and outfit to try and pass herself as a street kid, despite her obvious wealth and status:Chris: Why do you speak with that accent now? Everyone knows you're not from the streets.
- Unplugged Version - An amusing inversion. Many of the songs on Dashboard's Unplugged album, while still acoustic, appeared for the first time played by a full band. Dashboard would later on release several electrified versions of previously acoustic songs.
