As punk rock proliferated radio airwaves, Dashboard Confessional cemented their role at the vanguard of an entire music scene. Facing familiar aches with tenderness and precision, singer/songwriter Chris Carrabba rocketed the band into mainstream focus, solidifying their place as one of the biggest alternative bands of the 2000s. All The Truth That I Can Tell, the band’s ninth studio album, is both are markable renewal and a fortunate step forward. Carrabba found himself at a distinct crossroads as the last decade came to an end. Running on fumes, unsure if he’d ever release another album, he waited. The songs eventually came, and though the project might’ve easily come to a screeching halt following a near-fatal motorcycle accident in the summer of 2020, the album stands among Carrabba’s finest — a strikingly potent musical look at himself through a rediscovered keyhole, both an achievement of vision and a vital burst of artistic clarity; less like reading someone’s diary and more like reading their eyes.
