walking upstream…
Panic! At The Disco
photo: jenniferlinneaphotography from denver, co, usa · cc by 2.0 ↗Panic! At The Disco
Formed in Las Vegas in 2004 by teenage blink-182 devotees, Panic! at the Disco arrived fully formed on a debut single built from gasping falsetto, a plot-twist bridge, and a song title longer than most bands' entire discographies. Under Brendon Urie — the only member left standing after a string of departures — the band restlessly reinvented itself across British Invasion pastiche, cabaret-pop, and Sinatra-and-Queen-indebted arena pop before Urie folded the act for good in 2023.
the sound in question
2005
I Write Sins Not TragediesPanic! At The Disco
walk the tributaries ↓
blink-1821990s–2000s · Pop punk / Punk rock / Alternative rock
Ryan Ross has named blink-182's Dude Ranch as his first musical influence and originally set out to play guitar like Tom DeLonge; he and Spencer Smith mostly covered blink-182 songs as teenagers, and the group that became Panic! at the Disco began life as a straight-up blink-182 cover band before it started writing originals.
listen: upstream & heresource: Panic! at the Disco — Wikipedia (band history ↗
1997
Dammitblink-182
2005
The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press CoveragePanic! At The Disco
listen forLine up blink-182's 'Dammit' against Panic!'s 'The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage' — the same galloping, palm-muted pop-punk pulse sits under a fast, syllable-stuffed vocal that treats heartbreak (or scandal) as a punchline as much as a wound.
Queen1970s–80s · Rock / Glam rock / Arena rock
Frontman Brendon Urie has repeatedly named Freddie Mercury his vocal idol — telling Interview magazine in 2017 'I wish I was Freddie Mercury, straight up' — and has pointed to Queen's operatic scope and Mercury's theatrical range as a model for his own layered, multi-part songwriting and stagecraft, an admiration he's made literal with recurring live covers of 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'
listen: upstream & heresource: Rolling Stone — "Panic! at the Disco's Ryan Ross Loves Queen and Accordions" ↗
1975
Bohemian RhapsodyQueen
2016
Death of a BachelorPanic! At The Disco
listen forListen for the same mid-song lurch from hushed balladry into full-throttle vocal theater in Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and Panic!'s 'Death of a Bachelor' — both stack multi-tracked harmonies and swing from croon to belt inside a single track built more like a suite than a pop song.
Fall Out Boy2000s–2010s · Pop-punk / Emo / Pop rock
Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz found the unsigned teenage band's demo online in 2004, drove to Las Vegas to hear them rehearse, and after two or three songs signed them as the first act on his Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen imprint — mentoring the band through its debut and pulling it directly into the mid-2000s Warped Tour-adjacent emo/pop-punk scene, right down to its taste for absurdly long song titles.
listen: upstream & here
2003
Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your BoyFall Out Boy
2005
Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes OffPanic! At The Disco
listen forSet Fall Out Boy's 'Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy' next to Panic!'s 'Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off' — both hang a big, hooky scene-pop chorus off a title that runs longer than the band's patience for a plain sentence.