New reason to Panic at the Disco

Deur Julie Tcha

After a long break, Panic! At The Disco dropped the exclamation point and released “Pretty. Odd.” March 25.

“Pretty. Odd.” will create some debate among fans because the album is nothing like the first album. Taking a risk by dropping the emo act and exploring different musical talents of members, the band will make a new fan-base and keep only devoted fans.

Panic At The Disco’s introduction song, “We’re So Starving” does not have the familiar voice, circus-style beats and emo sound that made it famous in 2005.

“Oh, how it’s been so long we’re so sorry we’ve been gone we were busy writing songs for?YOU,” singer Brendon Urie belts out to apologize for the band’s absence and promises no change in its sound. This is followed by not horns and drums but by a cheering crowd. Some fans probably won’t accept the apology after listening to this song and the whole album.

These Vegas boys have matured from stories of whores, strip joints and cheating to cheery “The Beach Boys” and “The Beatles” inspired tunes, which bring imagery and hope of care-freely dancing on the beach this spring break and summer. Most of the songs in “Pretty. Odd.” are slow, copasetic and optimistic.

Songs like “When The Day Met The Night,” “Behind The Sea,” “She’s A Handsome Woman” and “That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)” demonstrate these traits greatly.

Though hints of theatrical and circus-like beats are still present, the message and voices are unrecognizable from Panic! At The Disco. Once you get pass the initial shock and bashing of the band, you’ll appreciate the attempt because of their growth and experimentations.

This album will keep them in the spotlight for more than 30 seconds because it isn’t the same sound as the first album.

All the band members sung in this record. Bass player Jon Walker sung “Behind the Sea,” which cannot go without being compared to songs of “The Beatles,” which the band highly looks up to.

The first single “Nine In The Afternoon” is one of the only songs that is remotely familiar to songs on “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.” Whimsical with drums, horns and strings, the single is pretty odd. Lyrics like “back to the street back to the place back to the room where it all began” contradicts when Urie weaves in “looks like the end of history as we know it’s just the end of the world.”

The video of the single is similar to previous works on their debut album.

In an interview with “Kerrang!” a weekly rock magazine in England, Urie and Walker talked about the album.

“There’s some songs in the album that have a lot of meaning and some that don’t have any at all,” Walker said. “We wanted to get that across.”

Urie and he also said that the band was not having fun with the old ideas.

“This new record, I think we are a little more comfortable as a band, a little more set with our direction and a little more proud of what we’ve created,” Urie said.

Deur Julie Tcha can be reached at [email protected]