The circus is coming to town. Vaudevillian rockers Panic at the Disco, best known for their theatrical personal and musical style, are slated to release their highly anticipated sophomore album “Pretty. Odd.” on Mar. 25. With no touring experience before their 2005 discovery by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz and only one album to their name, the band is still a relative newcomer to the scene.

Their long-awaited second album is a crucial step toward the establishment of a solid identity for the band. Panic has been living a rock-star success story in fast-forward, signing with a desirable pop-punk label before ever playing a live show and then rocketing to platinum status before finishing their first tour, and the world is waiting to see whether “Pretty. Odd.” can continue the breakneck success of their debut album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.”

“Pretty. Odd.” seeks to revolutionize both Panic’s sound and personality; while the band has often said their old-style circus persona is only a part of the show complementing the sound of their first release, this image is certainly what the band has become known for. Whether Panic will be dismissed as vaudevillian novelty or accepted as legitimate artists rides upon the impression made by “Pretty. Odd.” Read the full article »

Panic at the Disco
“We’re So Starving”
3/5 stars

This new demo, which clocks in at just under two minutes, initially underwhelmed Panic’s die-hard fans, who complained on various blogs, but Pete Wentz cleared up the disappointment, posting on his blog that this song was a joke. (As if the lyric “We’re so sorry we’ve been gone/We’ve been busy writing songs for you” didn’t tip anyone off.) Still, the joke ain’t bad: Over chunky, garage-y riffs, frontman Brendon Urie barks in a warbling tenor that could be mistaken for Eddie Vedder’s before launching into a huge chorus that shows off some Queen-style harmonies. No theatrics, no discofied emo, no circuslike xylophones. And it works.

- Rolling Stone magazine, Issue 1045 (02/07/08)

Panic at the Disco
“Nine in the Afternoon”
3 stars

The band formerly known as Panic! at the Disco are now exclamation point-less. But don’t expect these breathless, cabaret-loving emo dramatics to get all mopey and non-spastic on new album Pretty. Odd. (get it?! sigh). They might’ve ditched the excessive punctuation but it seems like someone in the Panic camp picked up a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band during the recording of the new record — the pouncing-rabbit piano line, heralding horns and overzealous strings are straight outta McCartney-land. It’s peppy; Ben Folds wishes he wrote this song. Lead singer Brendon Urie reins in his run-on style, going for a more traditional approach — good news for anyone over the age of 15. The song is about being discombobulated by the touring lifestyle, not knowing where or when you’re waking up; they’re “feelin’ so good” even though they’re “losin’ the feeling of feeling unique.” So while the band might not be as singular here, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. – Blender.com

Watch a video of Jon talking about “Nine in the Afternoon” at Friends or Enemies.

NME.com sat down with Ryan and Jon and asked them about the new album, watch part one of the interview here. You do not want to miss this. Part two should be up soon.

HondaCivicTour.com is having a tickets pre-sale tomorrow at 10AM. Sign up to receive an unique password and enter it at your event’s page on Ticketmaster.com. This is for the regular tickets only, no VIP packages.

Lyrics to “Nine In The Afternoon” have been added to More Than Good Hooks under Albums -> Pretty. Odd..

The first three people that completed The Final Challenge have won the deluxe limited edition of Pretty. Odd. as well as other surprises. The winners are: Ringbom of Turku, Finland; Russ of Stillwater, Minnesota; Colayori of Rochester, New York. Congratulations!