Schism! at the Disco

I feel like I need to admit up front that I do not possess the ability to be anything but entirely, horribly biased about anything involving Panic! At The Disco or The Young Veins. I am firmly Team Exclamation Point, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

That said, this was my first time listening to the track "Change" by The Young Veins. I had previously tried to listen to it a couple of times, but ended up turning it off. While it is still lurking on my computer, I don't plan on giving it much more listening, or much more thought. Harsh? Maybe.

I don't enjoy Ryan Ross's voice in large doses. When I initially got into the band, I was all for what he did as a vocalist - covering the lyrics that were overlaid with others, where Brendon Urie didn't have the physical ability to sing both parts. I was not impressed with his singing on Panic At The Disco's Pretty. Odd. In fact, I find that I am not fully enchanted by that sound, or the fact that it makes me feel like I'm trapped in the van with my dad and he's forcing me to listen to the oldies station. I just don't enjoy the sixties throwback sound.

I think what bothers me the most about this track is Ryan's singing. I actually enjoyed the guitar in some parts, despite my dislike for the general sound. Ryan Ross's voice is just so devoid of any kind of personality. I feel like his singing voice is just as boring and monotone as his speaking voice. This is a kid that has zero charisma with which to work the frontman angle. But by God! He's going to try!

Also, yelling "change" over and over at the end? GTFO with that, it's not even cute.

I'm not saying that Panic! At The Disco's "New Perspective" is a work of art or anything like that by any means. But I am going to say that I enjoy Brendon Urie's voice vastly more than I ever will Ryan Ross's. He's what brought me to the band, and he's what's keeping me with them. Part of it is that I enjoy being able to sing along with songs. I can't imagine ever singing along with "Change," because being monotone isn't fun. It's kind of why you listen to and enjoy Oasis, but you don't really sing along. "New Perspective," however, I'll gladly sing along with. I'll probably even shout the lyric "can we fast forward til you go down on me" or whatever it is. It makes me giggle, and it's great. I'm trashy, what can I say?

Another difference I'd like to point out is that I could only understand about every other word Ryan Ross was singing, anyway. I have no idea what "Change" is about, because I couldn't understand most of the words. And I grew up listening to Hanson, and I do love Fall Out Boy, so I am well-trained in understanding slurs of speech and mushmouth. But I appreciate Brendon's ability to, you know, enunciate so that I can understand him. YAY!

A compliment I can give: Ryan's voice has improved from what it was when they started. I'll give him that much. It's just, there wasn't a lot of room for improvement, because he's just not that good. Brendon, too, has improved. He's gotten smoother, and he sounds less like Patrick Stump and more like his own person. Which is cool.

In conclusion, I have no use for bands who are stuck in the sixties. I'm not down with that. If you wanna do a throwback, give me at least some hair metal and glam rock. At least Brendon Urie's obliging my horrible taste by covering Journey on the Blink-182 tour.

Although I'm sure Ryan Ross couldn't give a rat's ass for anything I say. He'll just snort some more coke and go on about his day like he thinks he's awesome. And that's cool, too.

- Julie

Coming from a more emotionally unattached place than Julie up there, I have significantly less to say about the Schism! at the Disco.

My first listen to The Young Veins' single "Change" didn't impress me much at all. I was tired of The Beatles' references by the time I finished my first listen of Pretty. Odd. and for a song called "Change," I found it sort of ironic that Ross hadn't...at all. Fine, he found a niche. He latched on. All well and good for him. However, he may have been one of the last people on the planet to go "OMG The Beatles are awesome!" If Walker was any bit wiser, he didn't bother reigning his partner in crime in at all. There's a difference between inspiration, looking up to a band and completely ganking their style...and then adding an organ. What? Churchy Beatles? What are they going for here? I cannot tell at all. I'm interested to see where they go with this but in a completely rubbernecking kind of way, not in a way where I'm actually excited to hear the music. It's not violently bad, which is more than you can say for a lot of other bands out there, cloning their influences.

The remaining members of Panic! seemed to have failed to grow as well. I'm going to say this is not a bad thing, since it looks like they've turned themselves around to the weird, vaudevillian, pop-hook-laden sound that made them distinctive in the first place. Panic! were weird. They were strange and charming and radio friendly but not annoyingly so. There is nothing wrong in the world with a good pop song and a few dirty references thrown in because 90% of the world is secretly 12 inside and we enjoy a good giggle. "New Perspective" is a fun tune with a great pop sound. That's all I really have to say. It's just that simple.

- Lanie