Panic (!) at the Disco

This past summer I giddily read that Panic! at the Disco was no more. Of course the writer's at Drowned in Sound were just playing with my mind and the band had merely gotten rid of the exclamation point and had not, as I thought, disbanded. Little less than six months later here I am, listening to them. It's odd how the world works.
Panic at the Disco's new album Pretty. Odd. is a complete rip off. It seems that the band listened to everything the Beatles ever recorded and decided that they were going to do the same thing. In one album. Add to the mix an orchestral arrangement to every track and you have Pretty. Odd. Now the last three sentences might sound like I'm going to rip the album to shreds, but I generally don't listen to things I don't like and so I'm just as shocked as you when I say, completely ripping off late-era Beatles with orchestral arrangements works for this group. This is not to say that the album is brilliant (the Beatles did it better) or terribly original (the Beatles did it better) but Pretty. Odd. is peformed by a band whose last tour was a circus. Literally. So over the top theatrics and vocal harmonies work incredibly well and make for an album that's fun and completely radio friendly.
I know nearly zilch about Panic! at the Disco nor do I know much of anything about Panic at the Disco. The only thing I know about the band is that they got bottled two years in a row at the festival(s) formerly known as Carling Weekend and that in 2006 they lost their original bassist. I've never listened to more than a snippet of their first album and so have no idea whether Pretty. Odd. is an improvement, complete departure, or typical sophomore album. However, I do know that the band seems to employ nonsensical lyrics to make a point about typical rock band song topics. They have catchy hooks and choruses that lure in the listener like a fish to bait. Vocal harmonies are in heavy use and can be heard in every single song on the album, save "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" which instead pretends that it's from the late 1920's/early 1930's. All in all it is what I've said before: A radio-friendly singles-laden album that hipsters in NYC won't feel too bad saying they own. It is neither brilliant nor horrible, merely passable in a good way.