Pretty. Odd. Is...Pretty Good

I got Panic at the Disco's new album Pretty. Odd. as soon as it came out, because I was ragingly curious about what the rest of it was going to sound like and I'd fallen in love with "When the Day Met the Night." As soon as I was in the car, I started to play it.

That was over a week ago.

It's taken me this long to write the review simply because I can't get over the shock of how much I absolutely, positively adore this album. In fact, I'm pretty sure my love for this album is a felony in Texas, though there's a rumor the Netherlands will soon recognize our marriage. I haven't listened to another album since I got it on the 25th it's that good.

Does it sound anything like their previous album? Well, there's a definite Panic vibe. You won't get confused and think you're listening to the Beatles or anything (even if it has clearly been influenced by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). But, it's a very new direction for them. I've already heard from someone who'd loved A Fever You Can't Sweat Out that she hates Pretty. Odd. There's no guyliner here, no sarcasm. It's all fairly mellow, with little moments of folk ("Folkin' Around"), '50s era jazz ("I Have Friends in Holy Places") and a whole lot of influence from the previously mentioned Beatles and Brian Wilson. In essence, it's far more retro than scene.

My favorite song so far is "Northern Downpour", with "Folkin' Around" as a close second. All of the lyrics were written by Ryan Ross as on the previous album, with the exception of "Folkin' Around" and "I Have Friends in Holy Places", which were written by Brendon Urie.

Despite the huge change in style, the album debuted at #2 on the UK and US charts. In the US, it sold 139,000 copies in its first week, which trumps the band's previous best week, which was when Fever sold 45,000 copies during Christmas week in 2006.

Shocking, but True

January and February sucked in a very bad way, in case you were wondering. Moving right along...

Panic at the Disco's video for their single "Nine in the Afternoon" is out, and much to my shock...I like it. At first I was a bit put off by the huge change in sound (and mildly amused by the fact that they decided to drop their exclamation point), which drastically moved away from everything I'd liked about the band. The lyrics aren't quite so clever and there isn't that funky, discordant feel to the music anymore. And yet...

It works. There's a sort of trippy, modern twist to the Beatles going on here. Sure, the simplistic rhymes are kind of goofy, but in the context of the song--which is a goofy, giddy little love song--they're perfect.

My main concern is the addition of a fake mustache on Brendon Urie during the marching band scenes. This is how it all began with Brandon Flowers, you know. First there's a weird video where he's sporting a fake mustache. The next thing you know, the pretty is covered in scary, bushy facial hair and you can't look directly into the 'stache lest your soul be sucked from your struggling body.

Hopefully, Brendon will prove stronger than his fellow Vegas frontman.

You don't have to worry

At least that's the admonishment from Panic! at the Disco's song "We're Starving" that they're using as a teaser for their next album.

I have a very difficult relationship with this band. On the pro side, there are moments when lyricist/guitarist Ryan Ross's lyrics are so astoundingly, shockingly poetic that I wonder how the hell he managed to come up with such a thing. And lead singer Brendon Urie's voice can be quite beautiful. Then, of course, there's that hometown love they automatically get a dose of.

On the con side, there are moments when their lyrics are so astoundingly, shockingly retarded I have to wonder what Ryan was thinking. And some of their songs just flat out sound like an attempt to suck up to Fall Out Boy. And, finally, they're from Summerlin, not one of the cool areas around Vegas, which automatically cuts off some of the hometown love.

So, I kind of want to like them. I think there's a lot of potential there and if they worked a little harder they could be one of the greatest bands out there, honestly. It seems like Ryan always exhausts what he wants to say in the first thirty seconds of every song and then pretty much does nothing but repeated chorus and nonsense bridge to fill in the gaps. Which, if those first thirty seconds are good enough, can work. When those first thirty seconds leave you saying WTH, not so much.

As near as I can tell, these are the lyrics to "We're Starving":

Ohhh, how it's been so long
We're so sorry we've been gone
We were busy writing songs for you
Ohhh, how it's been so long
We're so sorry we've been gone
We were busy writing songs for
You don't have to worry
'Cause we're still the same band
You don't have to worry
You don't have to worry
You don't
You don't have to worry
You don't have to worry
You don't
Ohhh, how it's been so long
We're so sorry we've been gone
We were busy writing songs for you

...which can be heard at their MySpace page. It's the last song on the player.

It's possible that after mixing it'll sound good enough to make up for serious and sad lyrical shortcomings, but I can't imagine that happening. At present, it sounds more like some sort of weird parody of a commercial jingle. Are they seriously going to put this on an album and try to sell it? We'll see how it sounds after it's been through the studio and if the rest of the album makes up for those wince inducing lyrics, I suppose. It's always possible it's meant ironically.

And just because I haven't had an excuse to link to it before, here is a random picture of Brendon Urie and their bass player Jon Walker. In the shower. Because even if the next album sucks so hard it's mistaken for a spacetime singularity, they do tend to be a bit easy on the eyes.