Panic! at the Disco has gradually turned into the solo project of Brendon Urie and a rotating cast of collaborators. With this shift, the band has also increasingly distanced itself from its pop-punk past. On Death Of A Bachelor, Urie explores his Las Vegas roots by taking direct inspiration from Frank Sinatra as well as sprinkling in some of the hip-hop/pop and EDM sounds currently rocking the casino clubs.
Those influences combine with the band’s pop-punk framework and glam rock references in unexpected ways, and that works better than it should. It almost feels like a modern pop riff on Sid Vicious’s My Way cover, but with pretty much all the punk stripped away. So maybe more like Michael Bublé goes emo. It’s a gaudy and garish experiment, but that’s probably the point. If Urie had fully committed to the concept, the result would’ve been stronger. The more conventional pop/rock tracks detract from his eccentric impulses and feel like compromises.
Top track: Death Of A Bachelor
