James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
In the process of compiling this sophomore release a member of the band lost their father, a bit of turmoil between members almost ended any chance of the bands releasing anything, and to top it all off, the band was about half way through a concept album that they wanted to write in place of this album but decided to scrap it as it was going in the wrong direction.
With so much going on in this band’s little life, where do they find themselves? In a recent interview, lead singer Brandon Urie stated that the band had grown up since their previous album and wanted to show that through their music. In the past two years Urie felt that a lot has changed with the band and with the fans of the band as well. The bands theory was that they should evolve their sound, just as peoples' tastes evolve.
With this logical insight into the mind of the fan, did Panic! in fact find the sound that they had been searching for since their Cabaret-Emo days of past? If they have it is rather disappointing. The album is unique in the melding of sound between their signature Cabaret flare, which made their live shows something to see, and a type of folk meets Emo hybrid; the prime example being the single “9 in the Afternoon.”
Are the days of Pop-Punk gone with this new grown up attitude? I doubt it.
Unfortunately the album loses all its momentum here and you find much of the same on the rest of the tracks; even to the point where the repetitive nature is extenuated by the fact that the tracks slow down rather than speed up.
Another comparison one finds within “Pretty. Odd.” is that of an odd similarity to a Beatles album. In fact the chorus on track “Northern Downpour” feels nothing like a Panic! song, but something off of “Rubber Soul”, although this makes it a pretty good song.
While Panic! At the Disco may feel all grown up, it seems that they lost a bit of their creativity back when they were lamenting over the promiscuity of high school girls.
You must log in to submit a comment.
