This, Dashboard Confessionals 4th album, represents something of a conundrum for the band (as they now find themselves). Originally Dashboard Confessional were a solo vehicle for Chris Carraba and have only really found themselves in their current incarnation since 2003's A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar. The reason this is posing a musical question of sorts is that the band (rather than the man) have enjoyed greater commercial success in their current form (helped in no small measure by the inclusion of "Vindicated" on the Spiderman 2 soundtrack) but in the course of this subtle transformation there is less and less of what made DC appeal to me initially, i.e. Chris Carraba's passionate, heartfelt, acoustic songs of relationships loved and lost.

 My favourite DC album is this albums predecessor, the aforementioned A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar opus,  which I felt nicely balanced the solo acoustic work with more spiky electric full band efforts. I don't know if its symptomatic of the band situation or if its merely a consequence of becoming more mature but Carraba's songs are (mainly) now more rounded and less abrasive (although "Slow Decay" is one of the darkest songs recorded by DC so far with its dissonant guitar and moody vocals and bass).

Another main difference this time around is that it seems that Mr. Carraba hasn't suffered a broken heart to go along with the song writing, as some of these songs are informed by feelings of love and infatuation rather than the relationship problems that were the staple of much of his earlier lyrics "So Long So Long" having a plaintive piano led intro and "Currents" having a very sparse, chiming guitar intro (which for some reason, along with opener "Don't Wait" evokes memories of Sixpence None The Richer and their hit single "Kiss Me").

I'm left with a feeling that I enjoy the more acoustic solo Dashboard Confessional than this current mid tempo rock version however, a fact that is consolidated by the fact that I prefer the acoustic version of "Vindicated" that was available for download from the bands' website last year to the full band, polished, version here.

Let us know your views on 'Dusk & Summer''

Track List

Don't Wait
Reason To Believe
The Secret's In The Telling
Stolen
Rooftops And Invitations
So Long, So Long
Currents
Slow Decay
Dusk And Summer
Heaven Here
Vindicated

Line Up

Chris Carraba - Vocals/Guitar/Keys
Scott Schoenbeck - Bass
John Lefler - Guitar/Keyboards
Mike Marsh - Drums