Customer Reviews

Summers Kiss

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This EP is a re-recording of four songs orginally on "The Swiss Army Romance" album. (Living In Your Letters, The Sharp Hint of New Tears, Turpentine Chaser, Ender Will Save Us All) This is NOT a live recording, but the songs are done similar to how they sound live with a full band. And the final product is beautiful. Some purists will say Chris Carraba is trying to change things too much and that "original intent" of Dashboard Confessional was for acoustic guitar only. Well, I'm not sure how people can claim to know the "original intent" of a band, but with any band, most of the time a song starts from the acoustic guitar and the artist builds and changes the song how he sees fit. Just because Dashboard's first album was acoustic, doesn't mean that's how it always has to be. If you don't like the full band or electric sound, remember Chris was originally in Further Seems Forever, which is (get this) a full band with electric guitars. He's not doing anything he hasn't done before. Both versions of each song have their own charms, but the meaning to each is still the same and the pure talent behind it hasn't been lost.

The Summers Kiss EP is a collection of four Dashboard Confessional songs recorded during last years Vagrant America Tour (with other popular acts such as Saves the Day, Face to Face, and the Alkaline Trio). Being one of the main headliners of the event, Carrabba spiced up his show since his early days, dropping his intimate, solo guitar performances to including a band. Chris' band is comprised mostly of the band Seville, an emo band that has opened most of Chris' shows. Accompanying Carrabba on drums, bass, keys and guitar, these live performances take on a different shape than his recordings, sounding bombastic and lively.

Seeing Chris Carrabba at least 6 times in the past year, there have been increadible changes in this performance. While I personally miss the solo effort, him belting his heart out over the guitar, the new tour is as good as before and adds a different perspective on Carrabba as a songwriter and as a performer. The emotional intensity on each of these songs feels a bit more derivative and strained, not the emotional belching that Carrabba displays on his first 2 LPs. In a similar vein, the presence of the drums and bass makes Chris' rather intricate guitar playing seemingly lost in the mud. His screaming feels a bit forced, too.

However, there is plenty good of the CD. In a live performance, the members of the back up band harmonize the vocals with Chris and add a lot more to the song than one would expect. The new version of The "Sharp Hint of New Tears", the song that officially made me a Dashboard Confessional addict, is different yet similarly pleasing on this recording. The honesty feels removed and the emotion is shoved into it's place, making the song as powerful as the original. The new version of "Living in Your Letters" supplants the original and is a triumph for Dashboard Confessional. "Turpentine Chaser" also succeeds for it's flowing vocals and emotional stabilities and crescendos.

The only weak spot on the CD is the new version of "Ender Will Save Us All," a particular poignant and special song for me. Dashboard Confessional seems to spice it up live and make it more into a jam song than a stark emotional confession. Little things like that are not noticable live, but when recorded stand out and kind of hurt the song. However, his ability to hit those long, high notes sticks through and makes it enjoyable. As a side note, Chris threw in this little blurb live during his latest tour on the 2nd chorus: "What is it you need?/Is it Tenacious D?" I never laughed once at a Dashboard show till then.

Overall, a pretty well made EP and definitely worth buying, especially for all you Dashboard Confessional nuts. As a live album, it's not bad at all and the quality is definitely appreciable and listenable. Pick this one up to see what Dashboard Confessional can do live; it's a great representation of his ability.

Fueron tan perros con los comentarios que a uds los califico con cero estrellas, eso no creo que sea cosa de chris sino de la disquera, asi que ya callense perros¡¡¡

this CD for me shows that chris' music is continually growing and expanding... he has done the 'guy on stage with a guitar' bit, and i loved the honesty created by the rawness of this stance. i waited for what seemed like forever for 'swiss army romance' to come out after being exposed to 'the drowning e.p.' and i saw how much emotion could be conveyed by one guitarist and singer, by one person... and now, he has expanded this emotion outwards, bringing in another guitarist, and a whole band (thanks to the guys that were in seville until they ditched to go with chris full time).

i love this e.p., it goes back and revamps the songs from the 'one guy, one guitar' days, and brings them more up to speed with the creative drive chris is in nowadays. i bought this CD at the Dashboard show at the 9:30 club in DC last night, and seeing how much the band (emphasis on the word 'band' - it isn't just chris anymore) is changing, this CD came out at the right time... especially seeing as Dashboard may be shedding the strictly acoustic exterior - the new songs they played at the show all had an electric element, and the version of 'ender will save us all' on this e.p. shows that chris is bringing in distortion to the fold to further push his emotions across the medium of music.

this CD is amazing, it reworks my favorite Dashboard songs 'sharp hint of new tears' and 'living in your letters' making them more layered, complex and beautiful... and with the final seconds of the e.p. bringing in the (until now) ignored element of electic guitars/distortion, who knows what the future will bring. personally, i can't wait, i think the work chris did with further seems forever is incredible, and hopefully by bringing in distortion into the mix of Dashboard's sound, chris can further diversify Dashboard Confessional by using this new element.

Alright folks, heres the low down. Many people are disapointed with this cd, saying that its a move away from what makes dashboard-dashboard. Well, DC is just going through band progression, every band does it, and Chris has the right to do it too. As for everyone saying that Chris has trouble keeping up with drums, thats just rediculus. Chris, before he was Mr. Dashboard, was the lead singer in the amazing band Further Seems Forever, from my home town miami. Everyone that likes DC should give them a listen. Also, the drummer for DC, Mike Marsh is one of the most talented drummers and singers out there. He used to be in an AMAZING band Seville, and he will do great things in DC in the future. Just give the cd a chance and understand that every band needs to make a progression.

You can buy this same exact cd on dashboard confessionals merch page for $8.00. Why are people trying to sell it for $19.00??

This album has the same keyboard qualities of DC's other EP that came out at the same time, "So Impossible." The differences being that this material is from the first album and the other was all new stuff at the time. Summers Kiss really shows the transitional sound between "The Places..." and "A Mark..." while foreshadowing that Dashboard would be going in a more electric direction on the last track "Ender Will Save Us All." This provides a partial remedy for the people who wish that Chris would've done an alternate version of the first album with a full band. Giving us four more tracks. The highlight of the collection for me is "Living In Your Letters" which far eclipses the emotional impact of the acoustic version, if only because of the vocal performance. My beef with it is that there isn't a version of "A Plain Morning" which was a track that truly stood out from the pack on the first album. I hope that he will do that down the road.

I have been a Dashboard fan since just before TPYHCTFTM and have to say that these four songs are my favorite over anything else they have done. So what if they have a full band now? It irritates me that there are so many people out there that like to scream sell-out everytime a band likes to evolve a little bit or try new ground. I think the songs sound much more 3 dimensional with a full band and honestly hope Dashboard pursues this style.

This is by far, the BEST sounding Dashboard Confessional CD. You can definitely tell it was recorded on a tape reel because it's so warm sounding. I personally prefer the versions of the songs on this album compared to the same songs on a different album. They sound amazing!! I spoke to the producer on the phone a long time ago, which is how I know it was recorded on reel. Dashboard, please use him again!

Ordered my DC Summers Kiss EP last week. Within two days it was at my door. Wicked fast shipping made me a happy camper. I will continue to do biz with recorddork from now on.