Remember when Panic! at the Disco (when they still had the exclamation mark) was on AOL sessions? Way back in 2006? Well Brenden said this new album would have more musical theater influence. That is CLEAR but somehow they managed to evolve a generally old-fashioned and fogie sound into something contemporary and catchy. Result: SUCCESS!
“We’re So Starving,” the first track of Pretty. Odd. is a flat-out address to fan’s fears. They’re so sorry they’ve been gone. They’ve been busy writing songs for YOU. But you don’t have to worry cause they’re still the same band.
They may still be the same band but plenty has changed. They’ve ditched much of the electronic, processed sound – even the vaudeville influence they’ve been famous for. They’ve left behind the dark, sadistic, eccentric lyrics that filled much of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. (Maybe they’ve just run out of Palahniuk to reference?) But they’ve traded it all in for a much lighter, frivolous sound but more a compilation of educated, finely tuned works of musical deliciousness with full contribution from all of the members. If Pretty. Odd. was a food, it would be a wedding cake with the Panic boys at the top wedded in melodic matrimony.
It’s obvious that while we were waiting and griping about the anxious wait for the new Panic album, the boys were fine-tuning the album to perfection. Unhappy with the first album they wrote, they started from scratch last July. It was well worth the wait. Each song, filled with anything from strings to brass to harmonica, banjo, and tambourine, provokes an individual sentiment all on its own, but together the compilation fits snugly together like Mad Hatter fits in Wonderland.
Some of the songs are reminiscent of American folk songs (and I’m not talking indie) like “Folkin’ Around” while others are serious throw backs to musical theater (Sound of music, Oklahoma, etc.) like “The Piano Knows Something I Don’t Know” and “She Had the World.” Others like “Behind the Sea” reinvent sixties rock like The Beatles. But as always, Panic manages to extract a nostalgia and essence of genres way past their prime and evolve and mold them into something modern, catchy, and pop. The ability to do so shows their music intelligence (dare I say genius?).
The lyrics of Pretty. Odd. —in place of the ominous, provoking lines of A Fever—are filled with light, nonsensical, whimsical phrases not far from Lewis Carol’ hallucinated Wonderland. (“Remember when I was a bird and you were a map?” “We should feed our jewelery to the sea”) Which reminds me of their cover art and “Mad as Rabbits” video… But if the top hat fits…?
Panic has traded in their punctuation mark and their old sound for a new throwback. The result is a light, fluffy, sweet concoction with intricate swirls of icing and piled 3 feet tall into confectionary harmonious perfection.
Stay Savvy.
Steph@A2S
