Dashboard Confessional is one of the early break out stars of the '00s emo scene, and arguably one of the best known names in the genre. It grew out of singer/songwriter Chris Carraba looking for an outlet for his acoustic and personal songs outside Further Seems Forever, his band at the time. By his third album, Carraba brought in other musicians to turn DC into a full band. A lot of what later become definitional to the genre can be found in especially his early recordings: the plaintive, higher register vocals singing lyrics of hurt and heartache that sometimes metrically feels like a run on sentence, the stop and go of the band, soaring, shouty choruses etc. For the fans of this style of music, Dashboard Confessional and Carraba are an institution. The band took a break between 2011 and 2018, and then came back with new music that was still fairly close to their original work, though maybe a bit on the mellower side.
Taking Back Sunday, Saves the Day, Straylight Run, Something Corporate
Carraba was a member of Further Seems Forever.
Dashboard Confesssional ... you know ... their name is practically synonymous with emo.