Pretty much everyone in my elder millennial age group remembers Chris Carrabba for his work with Dashboard Confessional in the early 2000’s. As I wrote about in my review of Dashboard’s 2001 album The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Carrabba single-handedly made the introverted kid lacking self-confidence blessed with a penchant for observational insights cool, and doubly so when that protagonist was armed with a guitar and blessed with an earnest approach to telling his story.
But few remember Carrabba’s first band Further Seems Forever and their debut album The Moon Is Down. The band formed in 1998 and began to build a loyal following in their home state of Florida, but by the time 2000 rolled around it was clear that Carrabba’s desire to make it in the music industry outpaced those of his bandmates. As a result, he actually had already informed the band that he was going to leave the group ahead of the recording of The Moon Is Down, joining the band in the studio as a farewell to the group and ensuring that the two years of material they had built together finally saw the light of day.
And it’s a good thing they did. While The Moon Is Down isn’t going to win any awards for completely altering a genre, their emo Indie Rock approach left a few gems (specifically “Just Until Sundown” and “Snowbirds And Townies”) which have stood the test of time.
Standout Songs: “Just Until Sundown”, “Snowbirds And Townies”, “Pictures of Shorelines”, “The Bradley”
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