A Fever You Can't Sweat out

The first time I listened to 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out', I was taken back by the band's use of instruments pop punk/synth rock bands don't normally even think about using. This is only true for the second half of the album, tho. The 'Panic! At the Disco' album was pretty much divided into two halves, with an electronic intermission in between (rather plain and too long for an intermission and starts off like a cheesy dance music from 'A Night at the Roxbury').

The first half features synthesized beats and sounds, as well as some acoustic riffs in the background. The cool thing about it is in most tracks from this half, the synth bits would kick in when you least expect it. Like in 'The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage', what seems to be the bridge of the song suddenly became this upbeat cheesy electro beat, which I could almost see Jim (from American Pie) stripping to. And yes, their track names are damned long. Kinda cool, tho.

Now, the second half is where it gets really interesting. Old school instruments like the Vaudevillian piano, the accordion and the horns add a lil bit of magic to the sounds. I particularly liked their use of the strings in 'But It's Better If You Do' and 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies', featuring plugged violins and I think what must have been either violas or a cello.

My favourite track, tho was 'There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet', simply because it's got the Jazz essense to it. Well, how can it not? The track starts off with the drums doing the swing. Then, the voice comes in, accompanied with the perky piano. Not only that, there're bits in the song, where all instruments and vocals would stop so the drums can solo..Jazz sttyyyyllleeee..Definitely my favourite song of the album.

Let me just talk about the track names just a bit. According to Wikipedia, most tracks on the album reference works of Chuck Palahniuk (he wrote Fight Club!!), who is said to be the band's collective favorite author. More about that here.

All in all, despite it being a lil draining since all the tracks are upbeat together with high vocals, 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out' is a pretty interesting album. Another creative piece of work with a different choice of instruments used within the genre. Have a listen:
http://www.purevolume.com/panicatthedisco