Dashboard Confessional is a pretty well known name in the music scene these days. The "Summer's Kiss" EP, released on April 2nd 2002 by Eulogy Records instead of Vagrant, is the fifth album put out by Dashboard. It is once again a full band ensemble, not just guitar and vocals.
The tracks on this album are: "Living in Your Letters", "The Sharp Hint of New Tears", "Turpentine Chaser" and "Ender Will Save Us All". Sound familiar? That's because all of these songs were previously on "The Swiss Army Romance". The difference? They are now recorded with a full band. This album had some upsides, but it just seemed pretty repetitive to redo songs that came out less than two years ago. Many people also feel that the songs were more raw and filled with a lot more emotion on "The Swiss Army Romance".
As I said, though, this CD did have its upsides. There is one certain part in "Turpentine Chaser" when the music is held back for a split second, seemingly changing the song all together and Chris's voice sounds much more stable on "Ender Will Save Us All". "Living in Your Letters" is slowed down, a positive or negative effect depending on your preferences, but it sounds more like a love ballad than it did before.
The "Summer's Kiss EP" definitely proves that Dashboard can hold their weight as a full band, but that was something that did not truly need to be proved. The songs feel repetitive, and some of the emotion is lost. If you like the full band sound better than not, you will enjoy this CD. If you prefer the old "Chris on his acoustic" you probably will not enjoy this CD too much, but you never know.
C
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