Review Times Two! Panic at the Disco and The Decemberists

Been a slow week in terms of music I actually want to review, so I took some requests! This week, I'll take a look at the third album from pop stars Panic at the Disco and the new (chart-topping?!) folky Decemberists record.

To be honest, I had forgotten Panic at the Disco were still around. After their slightly annoying yet popular debut A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and the massive sonic turnaround of their second album Pretty. Odd., the band lost two of its members, leaving only do-it-all frontman Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. The band cited musical differences as the reason for the split. I actually enjoyed Pretty. Odd., so it seems that it was the brainchild of the two departed bandmates, because Vices and Virtues marks a return to the modern pop sound of AFYCSO. Unfortunately, this is not a good thing.

The saving grace that first album had was that it was at least interesting. Annoying as it was, the band had a unique edge to their sound. Vices and Virtues takes the sounds from their debut and removes the edge, taking the annoying and making it simply dull and uninspired. The 'band' just kinda slags its way through the ten tracks; it's music for the sake of no one. I say 'band' because Urie plays everything but drums, which makes me think that losing those two members is really going to do this band in. With no band members for Urie to play off of and vice versa, the music dips into a state of stagnation. The most interesting/worst part is the last song, which features an epic choral outro. Interesting because it's at least trying to be creative, worst because it's like putting a Lord of the Rings war scene at the end of The Social Network; it's inappropriate and makes absolutely no sense. (Disclaimer: No, I did not mean to compare this record to The Social Network, it's just a simile.) 1.5/5.

Ah, this is better. After recording four pretty standard (but good!) indie folk-rock albums and a slightly ill-advised rock opera, The Decemberists returned to form in January with the country-laden The King Is Dead. This is almost certainly the most country record I've ever listened to and liked...maybe it's the lack of lyrics about tractors and booze, or the fact that frontman Colin Meloy is from Montana and not Alabama (accent-wise, I don't have anything against people from Alabama!). Anyway, take an otherwise good folky country record, replace the obnoxious Southern vocals and lyrics with some actual substance, and there you have it.

This review has turned into me just dissing on country music, hasn't it. This is a good record though! I've played through "Calamity Song" countless times, and the guitar work on "This Is Why We Fight" is impeccable. There are also some very pretty ballads throughout, with "January Hymn" and "June Hymn" highlighting these. Meloy's penchant for verbose lyrics isn't changed in the slightest by the slight musical shift. Honestly, there really isn't a bad song on here, but besides "Calamity Song" there aren't many great ones either. That sounds degrading, but on't let that turn you away, an album with no bad songs is still a very good piece of music. 3.6/5.