Panic at the Disco "Pretty. Odd."

Panic! at the Disco has returned! Oh I'm sorry, it's just Panic at the Disco now. It seems the band that won me over with the phenomenal single The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is the Press Coverage has matured a bit.

Up to now P!@tD was best known for their top ten single I Write Sins Not Tragedies, their biggest hit from their 2005 debut "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out". Now they return to the music scene and promise that they haven't changed. On the opening track to "Pretty. Odd.", We're So Starving, we're told that Panic is sorry that they've been gone for so long, but they were busy writing songs for...YOU! And I can't help but believe them. The song sounds like something you'd hear at the end of a movie, after the struggling band has made it through all the hardships thrown at them only to end up stronger.

Without a break in the music we're thrown right into the first single Nine In The Afternoon. It's upbeat typical Panic! song that is best described as "ear popping", or as some would say "head bopping". Regardless the song is good and leaves you wanting more.

Then you get more and you realize why they took the exclamation point out of their name: Panic at the Disco has gotten boring.

OK, boring may be a bit harsh, but they have gotten more mellow, definitely. The album is full of catchy lyrics and hooks, but it sounds like something you'd hear in Garden State or Juno. There's nothing wrong with this, but I always find it kind of upsetting when a band changes their sound so much that they no longer sound like who you feel in love with.

Instead of Panic at the Disco I feel like I'm listening to the Beatles. Which is good for P@tD - Beatles are huge. Bad for me - I don't care for the Beatles.

If people are done booing and hissing at me, I'll continue.

Done? OK. Good.

Panic plays with other kinds of music too, other than emo, rock, and Beatles-ish. One of the best songs on the album is Pas De Cheval, where they let out their inner surfers. It sounds like a leftover track from Sugar Ray's "In the Pursuit of Leisure", which is definitely a good thing; that's one of my all time favorite albums.

So Panic! is back. Only now they're just Panic. And while it isn't the music style I was expecting it still has that special something that makes P@tD who they are. Once I got past the initial let down of the musical styling I realized that I actually quite liked almost every track on "Pretty. Odd." However, I'm still hoping that next time we see more of Panic! than Panic. A-





Download: Pas De Cheval, Folkin' Around
Avoid: The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know, Behind the Sea