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A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

by Panic! At the Disco

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Barely out of high school when signed as the first act for Powered By Ramen's new Decaydance imprint, guitarist Ryan Ross and drummer Spencer Smith of Panic! at the Disco had previously cut their musical teeth in a local Las Vegas Blink 182 cover band. It's that familiar, contempo-punk-pop sensibility, bolstered by the amped-up emo-core ambitions of singer Brendan Urie (typified by the snarky gem "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage") that dominates the opening tracks of the album. It's a shrewd hook, one the band steadily expands -- sonically and lyrically -- thereafter. The nervous energy of "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines" is set off by sonic embroidery that's sounds as intriguing as the vocoder shtick of "Nails For Breakfast..." does dated. Yet "Camisado" quickly shakes up Supertramp's prog-pomp with a double-shot of modern punk-pop smarts, an alchemy the band and producer Mint Squire performs with similarly inventive, genre-blurring ambition (complete with a quasi-Grand Guignol "Intermission" nearly worthy of Queen) on "Lying is the Most Fun..." and such standouts as "But Its Better If You Do" and the arch delight "Build God, Then We'll Talk." Too many young bands are content slaves to fashion; this one has forged a promising debut by shrewdly taking fashion hostage, then standing it firmly on its head. -- Jerry McCulley