A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

Panic! At The Disco’s debut album is a genre-busting blend of slick, poppy emo-influence punk, Strokes-like rock, and, well, disco. While the first two genres fit together seamlessly, a blend of all three is a risky proposition usually attempted only by experienced professionals. Nevertheless, these inspired neophytes score time and again with tracks like the glittering “Camisado,” with its sparkling sequencer interlude, and the witty “Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” (the opaqueness of Panic!‘s song titles is a large part of their charm). The band’s lyrics tumble out in a rush, while their musical ideas are a complex distillation of pop’s last 40 years, played with an innocence and enthusiasm as infectious as it is exhilarating.

What the critics say… Rolling Stone (No. 986, p.90) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – “…Panic pillage two pop-friendly musical trends—Eighties keyboard nostalgia and angry-boy pop-punk—and create something new.“ Kerrang (Magazine) (p.67) – Ranked #15 in Kerrang’s “20 Greatest Albums of 2006” — “\[A\] ridiculously accomplished debut album that overflowed with moments of inspired melodic invention.“ Mojo (Publisher) (p.112) – 4 stars out of 5 — “\[U\]ltra-sharp lyrics and high-velocity mood and tempo switches make listening as exciting as lugeing down an ice chute with blindfolds on.”