NW Reviews: New Found Glory + Dashboard Confessional – Swiss Army Bro-mance
Have I not been center-justifying my images lately? Sorry, format-nazis.
NFG and DC have been doing their things respectively for a very long time. From their Florida origins to their days shared on Fiddler Records, both bands seem to be connected at the hip even though most don't know it. Recently, NFG and DC were to go on a tour this winter but after Jordan Pundik's mom went through a medical emergency, the tour was simplified into an acoustic jam-session... WITHOUT this split EP on sale. But, this week it was released... and is it worth it to buy a record player to listen to this?
First off the bat, the Twitter-hype for this album was intense. Following either Chris Carrabba or Chad Gilbert while they were recording these songs made everyone wonder what these things would sound like. Oh right, I should explain what "these things" are. Dashboard will cover two NFG songs and vice versa. So, epic right? Well...
The first songs I heard were the NFG set of songs. Let me tell you, it sounded promising as they covered "Swiss Army Romance". Slightly cheesy intro with the acoustic guitar turning into an electric guitar. If you've ever listened to any of NFG's From the Screen to Your Stereo cover albums then you might have an idea of what this sounds like. It's not hard to guess what they would do... fast pop-punk upbeat progression laced with random break-down-y sounding things, and a hardcore throwback breakdown to end. It wouldn't be fair to say they didn't really have to try too hard to make this song... but thinking of what they had to to... which is learn the song (easy), NFG it out (easy), then fancy it out with some lead guitars (somewhat easy), the song itself isn't to hard to reproduce. But still fun I suppose. NFG's second effort with "Saints and Sailors" was a little more "Dashboard and distortion". Not too much variation from the original song to this version until the bridge where it goes "I'm not laughing, and you're not leaving". At this point, my skin goosebumped, and not in a "this is amazing" way. More in a "there's a hair in my soup" way. Chad Gilbert gets HxC with it and screams out the bridge like he wrote it. Sadly, it's on par with Eddie Cuddy's forum post he made about metalcore bands covering pop songs. Ugly.
Dashboard's attempts were definitely more lo-fi than I expected. Although expected since Chris (I think) did all the instrumentation on his own for this. Starts off with "Better Off Dead". Definitely a "make out song" vibe about it, with the very indie ProCo distortion volumed down in the background for the chorus. Is he using an TR-808? What is this?! Anyway, drum machine and hipster distortion aside, it still sounds like Chris is about to crack when he sings. And he's edging on the side of "old". I guess when you play a tour with Bon Jovi, you're considered old or a band from The Fox 101.7. Either or. Oh right, the song. It was nice, but the lo-fi vibe makes it sound... lacking? As with the last song, "All About Her". It definitely sounds as if this album was thrown together. And that's sad because if you followed these guys on Twitter, you would know that this was pretty fun sounding as far as the recording process goes.
It's fun! It's seriously your bro-mix. Pop punk and make out music? You could jam out with your bros in your Geo Metro before you get to a house party, then after a few games of King's Cup you can pop on some DC and set the mood. RIGHT BROS!?? HIGH FIVE!! In all seriousness, the only other pros to this was that there was a tour that made this split linked in any other way. And I'm almost glad it didn't get sold at the tour.
Aw, I always hate doing cons for bands I love. NFG and DC have special places in my heart. But alas, truth and justice must be served. This album, unless you REALLY REALLY REALLY love pop punk or making out to the same two songs, is crap. Lucky for me, I love these guys so I find it enjoyable for nostalgia and fun purposes mainly... but musically it makes me want to squirm and vomit simultaneously. The major con to this was probably execution. In theory, two of your beloved bands covering each others songs is like a dream come true. Back in the day, what if Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin did a split EP and Pink Floyd covered "The Ocean" and Zep covered "Comfortably Numb"? That'd be the greatest thing ever right? Okay, now let's say that happened and it sucked. Would you still like it? I'm not saying NFG or DC are legendary like Floyd or Zep, but in many people's minds... it's a similar thought.
People who would like this: people who listen to "____ goes punk" albums. You know those albums at Best Buy... "Pop goes Punk volume 493249" and "Rap goes Metal volume 666". If you seriously listened... no. No. If you seriously BOUGHT something like that before, go ahead and waste your money on this. Others who would like this: die hard fans, fans of king's cup, people in cover bands trying to figure out how to be original, people who like four-wheeling and making out at the same time.
[...] it has been tossed to the way side. Some bands are still scratching for a chance, while others are just unchanging because... well, that's what they are. Then there are these types who are too late for recognition [...]