Reduced to a duo of
Brendon Urie
and
Spencer Smith
, neither of whom were primary songwriters during the band's early years,
Panic at the Disco
pick up the thread they started with their skewed
Beatlesque
sophomore set,
Pretty. Odd.
, and turn
Vices & Virtues
into a curious little nesting doll of an album. Elements of the band's energetic emo are here, but it's only one bit on a record that follows the kitchen sink aesthetic of
, one where the production is too restless to sit still for more than a couple of bars. The keystone here isn't so much the '60s as it is '80s new wave with synths and echoed guitars uncannily recalling the glory days of 1983, but
's approach is distinctly modern, letting the past intermingle with the present so it all creates a Day-Glo digital collage. Often, the individual pieces of this patchwork pop are more captivating than the overall image, yet there's still an undeniable appeal to
Urie
Smith
's crazed earnest energy; they may not know where they're going but they know all the different routes to get there. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine