Panic! at the Disco
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die
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Pop rock
Panic! At the Disco’s latest record, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die, is the band’s attempt to grow out of its emo kid past. Yet Panic returns to its techno roots, reminiscent of its debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. The result is a good, but not great, record that finely balances the line between pop and rock.
At first listen, there’s nothing remarkable about any of the songs, yet they have a lingering quality that listeners will find themselves tapping their toes to days later. The addictively catchy “Collar Full” or the energized “Vegas Nights” are spot on examples of this. Even the albums only ballad, the simple and pretty “The End of All Things,”6 has a persistently hummable quality.
Too Weird stays consistant with its electronic sound, but at times goes overboard with the robot vocals, masking singer Brendon Urie’s incredible talent. This more electronic turn isn’t all bad though — the solid dance beats are the foundations of what makes this album enjoyable.
A notable mishap is the strange ordering of the songs. Even though the songs are clearly of the same mold and are strong individually, it’s as if they don’t flow together in any natural progression. This makes Too Weird feel like a lot of packaged singles rather than one whole product.
Though Panic! At the Disco’s fourth album doesn’t display any maturity, there is something very artful about songs deliberately crafted to be fun to listen to. Overall, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die, while not groundbreaking, is a valiant pop rock effort and a perfectly danceable record.
— Natalie Carney
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