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Panic! At the Disco

Emo! at the Arena

By Ed Masley

Published on December 07, 2006

Voted most likely to bring an accordion and dance-punk beats to the emo-kid table at lunch, the exquisitely dressed young men of Panic! At the Disco took their first step down the road to superstardom not by being from the same Las Vegas stomping grounds as Brandon Flowers or even by having such bankable hair (think the Beatles of post-Dashboard emo). No, they did it by bringing the first songs they'd ever recorded to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's attention. The next thing they knew, they were fielding an instant message from Wentz, who fell in love with what he'd heard and released their million-selling debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, on Decaydance last year. In "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines," lead singer Brendon Urie sighed "We're just a wet dream for the Webzines." And the little girls not only understood, they made the band's debut an unqualified success (although it may be fair to point out that not everyone who likes them is a girl — or even girlish). So how big, exactly, have they gotten? "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," their bust-out hit on TRL, took home top honors at MTV's Video Music Awards.



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