If ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ was the sound of a band in their teens, ‘Pretty odd’ is the sound of a band in their 30s. While the first record was great because it was so full of youthful exuberance and the ability to want to make you get up and sing and dance, the new album sounds like a band who dieted solely on The Beatles back catalogue and wrote a 21st Century version, complete with a mouthful of Dawsons Creek-esque lyrics. So is it any good? Not really.
There’s no two ways round it, ‘Pretty Odd’ is a disappointment. The band have clearly grown up and matured as musicians and that’s fine. You have to accept that good bands don’t want to write the same album twice and I accept that. But everything that made album number 1 so good is gone this time round. It’s like two different bands wrote two separate albums. Gone are the dancey bits, gone are the singalong choruses. If you’ve heard ‘Nine In The Afternoon’ and expect the album to even sound like that song you will be very disappointed.
Now all of that doesn’t mean ‘Pretty odd’ is a bad album, because it’s not. It’s just not up to scratch compared to the last PATD record. The, ironically pretty odd introduction of ‘We’re So Starving’ sets the tone – an abysmal introduction of a track which should have been left on the cutting room floor. Is it serious? Is it a joke? Is it some form of post-modern ironic poke at society? Either way, it sounds like a band squirming their way firmly up their own arses. And as the album progresses, and the number of tracks that should have been cut add up, you’ll see what I mean. Now as I mentioned before, ‘Nine In The Afternoon’ is a good song. It’s poppy, chirpy and an encouraging start. But as a much better band once said, it’s all downhill from here.
‘When The Day Met The Night’ is a good song, as is ‘She Had The World’. But ‘Northern Downpour’ is boring as Hell, ‘Do You Know What I’m Seeing?’ dreary and dull and, well, I think you can just see where I’m going with this. For me Panic at the Disco are a much better band when they have pace and energy. I cannot see them being taken seriously by their predominantly young fan base writing sub-par Beatles songs. I’m all for artists using their creative juices in a way which satisfies them as best they can, but to radically change a sound for the worst, well, there’s just no way the band will sell as many records as the first album and that in the land of the major label is a one way ticket to dropsville.
A bizarre and ultimately disappointing record that doesn’t live up to the first album or general expectations.