After Fall Out Boy’s recent success on the singles and album sales charts, I’m trying to get another equally, if not more, talented band into the spotlight. Panic! At the Disco, hails from Sin City (Las Vegas, for those of you not familiar with nicknames). If you like Fall Out Boy, you will like Panic! At the Disco, without a doubt. Combine Fall-Out-Boy-esque vocals, replace FOB’s constant guitar with a small amount of guitar, some techno, and even some orchestral instruments, and you have Panic! At the Disco. Their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, is one of the best I’ve heard in a long, long time.
The album starts off with a 30 second introduction that is impossible to hear, and the only thing that you can hear is some random muttering. Their next song, “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage” has a nice rhythm with an acoustic guitar, but after about two minutes, the song breaks into a little techno interlude, which sounds awesome. Track number three, “London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines”, is a Fall Out Boy clone. Listen to this song if you like Fall Out Boy.
“Nails For Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks”, is a percussion-heavy song with a nice introduction. This song is pretty good, and the voice effects sound nice with Brendon Urie’s intelligent vocals, such as “And with the way you’ve been talking, every word puts you a step closer to hell/the hospice has a relaxing weekend getaway when you’re a cut above all the rest”. “Camisado” is one of my personal favorites on the album. The music is more like Fall Out Boy than P!ATD’s unique sound, but the song is uplifting nonetheless. “Time to Dance”, the sixth track on the album, is my favorite song. The background is a techno beat combined with some guitar and drumming (Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith, respectively), and Urie’s lyrics are perfect yet again—one listen to this song and you’ll find your feet tapping in rhythm.
“Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have without Taking Her Clothes Off” has a very well-played bass riff (the bass player is Brent Wilson) and some well-written, but racy lyrics. After hearing the first seven songs, it’s no wonder that this album got a Parental Advisory sticker slapped on it. “Intermission” is nothing more than two-and-a-half minutes of a repetitive techno noise, spare yourself and skip this song. “But It’s Better When We Do” is, in my opinion, the second best song on the album. The song has piano in the background, which adds a neat touch to the song.
“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” is a very different song, in terms of rock music—it has a violin, followed by a hard guitar line. The song is perfect, guys, if you’ve ever been dumped. “I Constantly Thank God For Esteban” isn’t too great of a song, but it’s different. “There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Though of It Yet” is yet another unique song. It sounds like a ragtime 20s jazz song, complete with trumpets and everything; another one of my favorites. “Build God, Then We’ll Talk” has an accordion combined with guitar, but the song is decent at best.
Panic! At the Disco’s debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, is an amazing album, from a band with some serious talent. This band is currently touring with Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack, and Boys Night out on the Nintendo Fusion Tour (Fall Out Boy is headlining); they came to Indianapolis’ Murat Theater a few weeks ago, which would have been an incredible show. Look to catch this band on tour next time around, and look for them to be getting some airplay in the near future—this band is going places.
