(dressed in black)
So...I've been trying to decide what I think about Panic! At the Disco, and began closer inspection of the few songs I picked out from their newest album.
I do like the lead's voice. He doesn't realize how versatile it is (yet).
The songwriting is basically superficial. The lyrics are meant to function, at least partially, as social commentary, but there seems to be nothing beyond the obvious (though rarely overdone) sarcasm.
They are trying really hard to be dark, but it's really just...superficial. It's all catchy glamor and no depth. Rarely is there an entire verse written to stand on its own; a few lines are written, and then repeated to fill the second four-measure phrase. The same sequence (doubled) is repeated again later on, after a few repetitions of the chorus.
I will give them this - the melodic lines are interesting and catchy. Instrumentation is adequate; the instrumentalists have a lot to work with considering the potentially diverse nature of most of the songs, but they don't do much with it.
Overall I'd have to say that Panic! At the Disco inspires a certain indifference in me. They're not horribly bad (though their fanbase has the potential to be intensely annoying, considering the weird new generation of Hot Topic-worshipping faux punks who celebrate immaturity, Tim Burton, and horribly drawn anime porn) even if they do ride that dangerous line of pretension with some skill. But they are in no way stimulating, either.
I guess I'm just relieved to see a new band that isn't a complete insult to the artistic community.
also
Modest Mouse blows.
I do like the lead's voice. He doesn't realize how versatile it is (yet).
The songwriting is basically superficial. The lyrics are meant to function, at least partially, as social commentary, but there seems to be nothing beyond the obvious (though rarely overdone) sarcasm.
They are trying really hard to be dark, but it's really just...superficial. It's all catchy glamor and no depth. Rarely is there an entire verse written to stand on its own; a few lines are written, and then repeated to fill the second four-measure phrase. The same sequence (doubled) is repeated again later on, after a few repetitions of the chorus.
I will give them this - the melodic lines are interesting and catchy. Instrumentation is adequate; the instrumentalists have a lot to work with considering the potentially diverse nature of most of the songs, but they don't do much with it.
Overall I'd have to say that Panic! At the Disco inspires a certain indifference in me. They're not horribly bad (though their fanbase has the potential to be intensely annoying, considering the weird new generation of Hot Topic-worshipping faux punks who celebrate immaturity, Tim Burton, and horribly drawn anime porn) even if they do ride that dangerous line of pretension with some skill. But they are in no way stimulating, either.
I guess I'm just relieved to see a new band that isn't a complete insult to the artistic community.
also
Modest Mouse blows.