Panic at the Disco

They might've arrived with tales of treachery, but Pretty. Odd. is as sinister as a bundt cake, with the noodling trumpets of single "Nine in the Afternoon" heralding newfound attention to life's silver linings. There's even a ukulele. It's no minor departure for the emo kids: Ballsy experiments like "Behind the Sea" and "Pas de Cheval" are way outside the box. Like My Chemical Romance did with The Black Parade, Panic is not content to rewrite the pop punk playbook -- they throw it out entirely.

A moment of silence, please, for the lost exclamation point. Panic! at the Disco have
become Panic at the Disco, the biggest rock & roll punctuation controversy since .38 Special
dumped their decimal point. So what does this change mean? Have Panic renounced teen
silliness and become mature, sober-minded rock veterans? Ah, no. These Vegas boys have
just picked up a new wardrobe of hugely entertaining pretensions, attempting t... More >