ODD INDEED

Before discussion, it must be said: the new Panic at the Disco single (“Nine in the Afternoon,” which is now streaming at the band’s MySpace profile) is not targeted to me. In fact, the Las Vegas group (and everything it has done) is more for ’90s babies. The type of person you might see at the mall walking toward Zumiez with an Auntie Anne’s pretzel in hand and Sidekick on hip. This is not surprising, nor should it be held against the band (I am older than all of the members, anyway). It’s all too easy to forget this and want to immediately attack the group (the fact that Panic first contacted Pete Wentz, the man who would later sign them to his Decaydance label, through the tell-all Web site LiveJournal has soured some faces).

And while I was not a fan of its overwrought, tongue-twisting debut record (2005’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out), I will admit that the group’s primary songwriter, Ryan Ross, and vocalist Brendon Urie are capable of writing memorable songs. I’ve gone days with the song “But It’s Better If You Do” in my head, unable to escape. But with the group’s debut filled to its brim with ostentatious stabs at pop culture (song titles reference the emotional car-wreck film “Closer” and Chuck Palahniuk), A Fever was too large of a pill to swallow.

So now we have “Nine in the Afternoon.” Ross and Urie talked about getting high and listening to Beatles records while writing the single. It is then no coincidence that the band is currently mixing its sophomore record (Pretty. Odd.) at the Beatles’ Abbey Road Studios in London. Panic is not taking a cue from its Big Brothers in Fall Out Boy, who are clearly attempting to perfect its crossover pop-punk anthems, but are rather looking to the past for inspiration. Or make that their parents’ past. Either way, it could be worse. The new song is adequately enjoyable with its Sgt. Pepper aping – horns, a bright snare drum and march-inducing piano. The boys add their own adolescent touch with lofty lyrics like, “Your eyes are the size of the moon / You could 'cause you can, so you do / We're feeling so good / Just the way that we do / When it's nine in the afternoon.” It’s all cheeky and fun. Look at this way: this is not meaty material. But what if a group of young emo kids can shed the absurd circus act and embrace something with a little more substance? Does that then rub off on its audience? Is that that bad?