It has been an interesting couple of years for Chris Carraba. The former Further Seems Forever singer did what so many other musicians fail to do. He turned his side project into the full-time job. Dashboard Confessional started out as a part-time gig in between rock shows. He still looks like a hard rocker with his tattoos, but he became the voice of indie rock last year with his ultra-sensitive lyrics that don't amaze anyone by being cryptic. Instead, Carraba leaves it all out there on his sleeve in all its dramatic glory, just like many of the tattoos on his arms. And it caught on. As many people heard on the Unplugged CD, fans not only know every word, but they will do what they can to sing louder than Chris whenever possible.

Despite many EP's and the Unplugged live album, "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar" is really the second full-length album for Dashboard. I don't really know what I am expecting with this one, because I think if it is just as excruciatingly emotional as the last album, it might be hard to take. I will admit that I loved the first album, but I was truly unable to listen to it that often because it is so depressing. I remember letting someone borrow it once at work, and she said to me, "If I ever want to cry at work, I will come back and borrow this CD."

With that in mind, I started listening to the new record from Dashboard Confessional. The first song is a rock version of "Hands Down" which first showed up on the "So Impossible" EP in an acoustic format. The main phrase that sticks out from that song is "My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me. So won't you kill me, so I die happy." To be honest, I am hoping that this is kind of a carry-over song. I would hate to think that after a year full of success that Carraba would be just as distraught as he appeared on his previous album's material. I mean, I know success and money can't buy happiness, but at the same time, something good must have happened to him in the past year as he rose out of musical obscurity to play an Unplugged session for MTV.