Dashboard Confessional

“A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar” (Vagrant)

Compare to: Further Seems Forever, Saves the Day, Weezer

Whether his incessant whinings make you want to put him out of his misery or give yourself a big teary hug, there’s no denying the catchy tunes of Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba, combined with his angsterrific knack for metaphors, have been one of the main forces making “emo” the catch word it has been for the past few years. With its fourth full album, Dashboard Confessional shows a distinctly fuller sound, which will sit well with fans of more traditionally-structured rock bands, but for those who appreciated Carrabba’s solo skills for what they were, the all-too-ordinary band playing with him only detracts from the product.

Finding the most thought-provoking lyrics on the album is as easy as picking out titles. “Carve Your Heart Out Yourself” and “If You Can’t Leave it be, Might as Well Make it Bleed” are good examples.

Monotonous beats plague the album, almost as if Carrabba forgot to keep in mind any of the vocal and rhythmic diversity which made older albums so listenable. Instead, he falls into a rut in the first song and doesn’t seem to ever get out.

Perhaps this record could be seen as a slowly uplifting direction for the band, but that probably wasn’t their intent. If you insist on being as emo as possible, it’s time to find a new band to cry with. Dashboard might feel too happy this time around.

Dashboard has no doubt been the soundtrack for many pity parties, but a singer can only write so many songs about similar emotions before he’s merely rehashing the same scenario into a million copies. If the ink on the original lyric notes of “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” were blotted from tears dropping, this new album is evidence that the saltwater running down Carrabba’s cheeks has been drying.

— Andrew Mabe

Pretty Girls Make Graves

“The New Romance” (Matador)

Compare to: Rainer Maria, Sleater-Kinney, Babes in Toyland

Take a seat, this gets complicated.

The story goes like this: Counter-culture icon of the ’60s, Jack Kerouac, writes “Dharma Bums,” one of his most successful novels. Twenty years later, The Smiths use “Pretty Girls Make Graves,” a line from the novel, as a song title, cementing their success. Then, after 20 more years, an indie band chooses the song as its moniker and becomes the best-kept secret in Seattle.

Confusing? Yes. But If Pretty Girls Make Graves’ latest album is any indication, bands 20 years from now would be wise to name their band The New Romance. While not perfect, this album rides a consistent line between Riot Grrl angst and rock sensibility.

The key to PGMG’s ability to craft artful tunes with substance has more to do with what isn’t there than what is. Quick snares. Plucked strings. High synths. The individual products of the first track, “Something Bigger, Something Brighter,” come together gradually, giving them time to mix with each other until they boil over as a cohesive mass of a song.

Lead singer Andrea Zollo’s eerie channeling of Karen O and Neko Case sounds a bit like velvet-wrapped nails on a chalkboard — smooth, but not exactly comforting. Former Murder City Devils bassist Derek Fudesko also makes the bass an instrument to notice, even with off-kilter guitars looming in the foreground.

Unfortunately, the overall package is also what keeps this album from reaching maturity. Individually, every song on the album hits its target, but as a whole, there’s much less cohesion.

— Aaron Ladage

Medicine

“The Mechanical Forces Of Love” (Astralwerks)

Compare to: Luscious Jackson, Portishead, Garbage

Medicine, an alterna-rock band in the ’90s, is now a twosome hailing from Los Angeles. Brad Laner, the group’s leading man, has created a new, electronica-infused album with the help of Shannon Lee, daughter of the late kung-fu actor Bruce Lee.

Medicine displays a unique ability to combine a wide variety of fast rhythms with slow melodic vocals. In addition to these unusual qualities, the lyrics, although mostly inaudible, range from poetic to completely perverse. The result is quite bizarre.

The catchiest track on the album, “As You Do,” immediately grabs the listener’s attention with blippy computer noises and funk-inspired vocals. Unfortunately, it’s the highlight of the record.

“Wet On Wet” and “Astral Gravy” are musically like the rest of the album; however, the lyrics are much racier, due to their sexually suggestive lyrics.

Lee’s slurred voice sings lines like “You’ll taste my poison if you should try to fuck me,” and “Come on give me just a tickle, let me come and ride your luv-sicle.”The use of lyrics like this, especially in the many unorthodox songs on this album, creates music that’s too weird to enjoy. While Medicine’s use of unconventional and interesting electronic sounds is fun for the listener to an extent, the majority of this album lacks quality melodies as well as variation between tracks.

— Annie Krumhardt

Rancid

“Indestructible” (Hellcat)

Compare to: Bad Religion, The Urge, NOFX

All things must progress. Rancid’s newest album, “Indestructible,” is progress, which could be good or horrible. Unfortunately, it’s both.

You can’t hold on to the old days forever. As much as you may cling to your Sex Pistols record, punk is more than that. It’s not angry, it’s not “I wanna be sedated.”

The sound is true to the roots of punk, heavy in guitars and vocals. But roots are roots for a reason; music is meant to grow and change.

Some bands get away with having the same sound for years — just ask the Dropkick Murphys. That doesn’t mean a band can write the same song 19 times, with few differences but lyrical topics. Progress seems to have neglected to tell Rancid creativity is acceptable.

Rancid has forgotten there are more than two chords possible on a guitar and a handful of ways a voice can sound. The drawback of punk bands like Rancid is just that, as much as punk bands want to sound different, they all sound like one band, never differentiating themselves from each other. Progress seems to have skipped this little feature of music when it caught up to Rancid.

Songs like “Back Up Against the Wall” are worth adding to your mp3s, but the CD as a whole could be condensed into that one song. Don’t worry, “Back Up Against the Wall” sounds like “Spirit of ’87.” You won’t be missing much by not listening to the whole album.

— P. Kim Bui