Vices & Virtues

Las Vegas natives Brendan Urie and Spencer Smith make their first reappearance as Panic! At The Disco since main songwriter Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker unexpectedly walked away after 2008’s Pretty.Odd.
Citing ‘musical differences’, they formed the garage rock inspired The Young Veins, leaving Smith and Urie to continue the emo fight alone.
Here, they’ve clearly set out to recapture the super produced sound of their massive selling debut, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. Without Ross’s solid songwriting, however, they fall somewhat short.
A welcome willingness to experiment is in evidence. Urie’s juvenile, emotionally heightened lyrics are set against ‘80s synth riffs and classic rock motifs. Taking obvious inspiration from their record collections, they introduce unconventional song arrangements and liberally employ traditional folk instrumentation such as violin and accordion.
All told, though, this is a rahter mixed return to the bombastic days of old.