Throughout history, rock and roll has been on a mission to systematically destroy punctuation.

This is primarily because punctuation is about rules, conformity and order — three things that rock, in its truest, purest essence, is vehemently opposed to. Semicolons, slashes, commas and periods most certainly do not rock, so in order to smash the system, they are co-opted by rock bands and used for nefarious, decidedly “rock” purposes, which is why we have band names like Motörhead, Mötley Crüe and Hüsker Dü (wanton umlaut abuse), songs like Led Zeppelin’s “D’yer Mak’er” (an apostrophic calamity) and albums like At the Drive-In’s In/Casino/Out (I have no idea).

In fact, rock has been at war with punctuation for so long now that seemingly every offense has been made — W.A.S.P., Enuff Z’Nuff, the Academy Is …, Blue Öyster Cult, Blink-182, (hed) p.e. — though in recent years (perhaps owing a debt of gratitude to, uh, trailblazers like Neu! and Wham!), no mark as been as overused as the humble exclamation point.

Pioneered by post-apocalyptic rock outfit Godspeed You Black Emperor! (who would later change their name to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, for reasons apparent only to them) in 1994, exclamation-point abuse came to the forefront in 2000, thanks to bicoastal, post-millennial funk act !!! and bands like On! Air! Library! and Against Me! (who felt so strongly about exclamation points that they would include nine of them in the title of their 2006 live album Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live in London!!!.) Read the full article »

From falloutboyrock.com…

January 14, 2008

currently being blown away by patrick’s new ideas…

and dont you think we should have a funeral for the “!”

You would think people wouldn’t get this worked up over a single punctuation mark.

Then again, you’re probably not familiar with the inner-machinations of Panic at the Disco fans.

To wit: On Thursday, Panic revealed that their new album would be called Pretty. Odd., bringing to end a solid month of speculation and message-board hysteria. Of course, they also unveiled a brand-new logo to accompany that new album … one that did away with their much-maligned exclamation point. This, of course, shouldn’t have been a big deal — the simple removal of a bizarre bit of punctuation — except it totally was, quickly becoming the most-discussed topic on fan sites around the world (sample missive: “u CANT take the *!* are u insane!”).

It became such an issue that Panic (it feels so strange not adding a “!” after that) were forced to discuss the “exclamation thing” with MTV News following a press conference in Torrance, California, where they were announced as the headliners of the 2008 Honda Civic Tour. So, really, guys: What was the reason for dropping the “!”?

“At least for me, it got a little bit annoying to try to write that every time you’re typing the name,” guitarist Ryan Ross said. “It was never part of the name to us. … People started writing it, and then it ended up in more and more things like that, so there it was. When we started doing new promo stuff for this album, we just told everyone not to use it anymore.” Read the full article »

I never thought I’d ever make a post about a punctuation mark, but here we are. The ! is officially gone, I’m sure you all had time to mourn the loss of it by now.

I want to address the situation of the site from now on considering we’re called P!ATD Online. The exclamation mark will obviously go away and a lot of things will have to be changed. However, I will not update everything to reflect the name change (spelling change, whatever) of the band. Descriptions, page names, things related to the site will be updated. Panic’s information and projects will not.

What I mean is, everything you see with an exclamation mark is meant to be that way. I will not change anything to the new spelling when it was originally done the old way. Got it? It probably doesn’t make any sense to you but it does in my head. The same applies to the gallery, journal entries and lyrics. If it’s prior 2008, we’ll be using the exclamation mark. Read the full article »

In news that is sure to be a relief for copy editors worldwide, a rep for Panic! at the Disco has confirmed that the band will hereafter be known as Panic at the Disco. But wait, their sophomore album will be titled Pretty. Odd. (Creative punctuation wins again.)

Panic will be playing their new material live on this year’s environmentally friendly 8th Annual Honda Civic Tour, which they’ll be headlining (the tour starts April 10th at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre and wraps June 14th’s at Anaheim’s Honda Center; full dates will be announced later).

While we take a moment to mourn the loss of the Las Vegas group’s exclamation point, Rock Daily would like to honor those bands who have made excellent use of it: !!!, Against Me!, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Los Campesinos!, Neu!, the Go! Team and, of course, Wham!. — rollingstone.com

Hate to say we told you so, but … well, we told you so.

Just before Christmas, MTV News went to the set of Panic at the Disco’s video for “Nine in the Afternoon,” the first single from their still-untitled new album. During that visit, we noticed the guys in the band were all wearing sashes that read “Pretty Odd,” about which we wrote, “Perhaps that’s another clue in the ongoing Web site mystery? Or, even something simpler, like maybe the title of the record?” .

At the time, Panic tried to downplay the whole “Pretty Odd” thing, but late last night, as a part of the ever-evolving series of word puzzles they’ve been posting on their Web site, they mentioned it again, along with a date: 03.25.08. So, were they trying to tell us that the title of their album was, in fact, Pretty Odd?

Well, sort of.

Turns out, it’s Pretty. Odd. That’s according to a spokesperson for Atlantic Records, who confirmed the title to MTV News Thursday morning (January 10). And, yes, the album will hit stores on March 25.

The confirmation of the title comes on the same day that Panic (who have officially dropped the “!” from their name) are scheduled to hold a news conference at the American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, California. They’re announcing that they’ll headline the 2008 Honda Civic Tour, following in the footsteps of their pals Fall Out Boy, who headlined the 2007 version of the jaunt.

Source: MTV.com

Most official websites related to Panic! At the Disco have updated the band’s name on their pages to Panic At The Disco, sans exclamation mark. These websites so far are: Official MySpace, Purevolume, FBR, FBR+, FBR Webstore, FBR MySpace and Decaydance MySpace.

Which leaves fans wondering, has the band decided to change their name? Will this be a permanent change or just another album promotion tactic?