Dashboard Confessional's Alter the Ending is released after a succession of lukewarm albums, and it is as charming and wonderful as 2003's A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. Dashboard has always been a go-to band for those intimate songs that capitalize on both their heartwarming lyrics and frontman Chris Carrabba's seductive voice.
It was for the above reason that songs like "Stolen" and "Hands Down" were so wildly successful. Like most of Dashboard's ballads, with a few strums on the guitar and a couple of lines from a verse, a girl's heart will melt.
Alter the Ending succeeds because, while some songs deviate from classical Dashboard, they still acknowledge the success of their standby sound. The special edition of this album features the entirety of the album recorded acoustically. Alter features more electric guitar and swelling strings intros in some songs - a bit different from some of Dashboard's older work - so the acoustic version provides a different take that listeners may not be familiar with. It is definitely worth checking out.
While Dashboard ventures on a more "produced" and "studio" sound for some of the songs in Alter, the band still conveys its sense of intimacy. "Until Morning" is a great example of this. Both its acoustic and full-instrumental versions are reminiscent of The Ataris. "Belle of the Boulevard" almost screams, "I belong on a movie soundtrack!" Oh, wait. That's because it is in Cirque du Freak: Vampire's Assistant.
Poor movie choices aside, the album features quite a few repeat-worthy tunes. Carrabba is at his best when he sings low and at a whisper, making lines like, "Even now I can smell your skin / as I wrap you in a towel / lay you on the bed / and try to love you" seem as if they are sung heavy with emotion.
The band sounds a little less like themselves and a little more like pop-alternative bands like Motion City Soundtrack in a few of their songs. This is neither good nor bad, it all depends on your musical inclinations.
Choruses and bridges consist of a one-line repeat, like, "Oh, if this is chemical / then I am not ashamed to be bound by the impulses of science." This chorus in "The Motions" is catchy, but not traditional Dashboard.
But never fear - even in the non-acoustic album, songs like "Hell on the Throat" are similar to all those guitar-heavy ballads from albums like The Shade of Poison Trees and Dusk and Summer.
Dashboard puts pillow talk and sweet nothings to music and if Carrabba doesn't watch it, he will ruin every girl that listens to his love songs for all the other boys in the world. All of Dashboard Confessional's songs are swoon-worthy, but Alter the Ending is an arrow straight to the heart.
