Panic! at the Disco - Death Of A Bachelor

Panic! at the Disco
Death of a Bachelor
2016
Panic! at the Disco - Death Of A Bachelor

Energy has never been an issue for Panic! at the Disco. From their debut complete with the backing of Fall Out Boy the group stormed the "scene" and brought their high energy and strong vocals to the forefront. That was quite a few years and many band members ago which brings us to this new record Death of a Bachelor. Written by singer and the only founding member Brendon Urie this album seems to be a celebration of both cocaine and old Hollywood. It is both an exalting of the party and a lament at the hangover that lies on the horizon. Urie does a fair bit of singing swingy songs on this record seeming to channel his inner Frank Sinatra, but never going the full Seth McFarland imitation route. The album itself is dark, modern and actually quite appealing. There are times where the swing numbers, "Crazy=Genius" and "Death of a Bachelor", veer way to far into the big band style and just sound pretty bad. What is clear throughout is that Urie has not lost his ability to hit the high notes and get deep into some kind of emo groove.

Where Panic! really seem to falter is when they try to hard to be different or re-invent. From a failed collaboration with Demi Lovato  or the horribleness that was Vices & Virtues Panic! always try to reinvent but don't really have the chops or fan base to do so. "Impossible Year" is where Urie finally let's it loose and goes full Sinatra, and man is it bad. It sounds more like an imitation than anything else and the backing track is almost karaoke in it's cheesyness. "Hallelujah" however has a classic, but never dated feel and is the exact wheelhouse that Panic! should always be in. It is funky, but still accessible enough that the teen set would be able to get into it. This album was never going to go down as an all time classic, nor their best, but it does have elements that point out that maybe Panic! still have something in the tank. Only time will tell whether they harness that or let it fade away. At least their song titles aren't paragraphs anymore.

5.6 out of 10