I spent part of my summer traveling around the country and talking to bandom writers (bandom, in case you are lucky enough to be out of the loop, is fan fiction about emo bands). The overwhelming consensus among my subjects was that the characterization of Panic at the Disco’s Ryan Ross (not the lead singer, the other one) had taken an abrupt turn from fragile emo kid to twee hippie. Judging from this video for their new single “Northern Downpour,” he seems to be angling for yet another shift: Middle school graduation attendee in 1975, complete with goofy haircut.
“Downpour” is paired with a sleepy, visually flat video with a little too much soft focus for my tastes. But the clip pairs nicely with the song, which is as lovely and lackadaisical as an early summer nap in a meadow (they’ve come a long way since their first single). The loose-to-nonexistent narrative and fuzzy, disjointed images make it a hard video to get excited about, but it stays out the way of the song and lets the band stand in the middle of a field and celebrate their new identity as purveyors of bucolic emo folk, so I guess we’ll call it a success. As a festive bonus, please enjoy their novelty Halloween song. (I can just imagine the horror genre bandom stories that this video will inspire.)
Panic At The Disco - Northern Downpour [YouTube]
I have had ‘It’s Almost Halloween’ stuck in my head for DAYS now. But the video is so dorkily adorable that I don’t mind.
I guess this is PatD’s last chance to bring that flop sophomore album to life.
@Chris Molanphy:
I’m hoping the album pops up on a couple year end best of lists, making people go, “oh, word?” and give it a[nother] shot.
@Chris Molanphy: @Tauwan: Yeah, it really deserved a better fate.
@Maura Johnston: Too bad “When The Day Met The Night” wasn’t a single.
@Maura Johnston: I agree. One of the best releases of the year.
It’s also my favorite song from the album, and I love the security video shot. But I’m a sucker for text. (Enter the video for “Apossibly” by Apex Theory.)
That’s funny. I thought Ryan Ross’s characterization in bandom was more come-bucket/pseudo-willing rape victim.
it’s a shame this album didn’t do as well as their first one, although given how terrible sales for everyone are how badly did it do?
I like this song, it really needs to be picked up for the slow-mo ending of some drama series over the winter break to break into public awareness.
@Maura Johnston: I concur. I had a long conversation with one of my friends about how ridiculously under rated this album was and actually got a few friends to go out and buy the record.