“Every time we say anything, we have to [go back] and say ‘No, that’s not what we meant,” laughs Panic at the Disco’s Ryan Ross, referring to recent reports the band had enough material for a third album to come out later this year. “We have some songs,” he clarifies. “But who knows if they’ll be for anything.”

The band is currently in the middle of their two-month headlining tour for the recently released Pretty. Odd.. Bassist Jon Walker says Panic never really stopped writing songs after recording the album, but emphasizes it’s been “nothing more than recording them on an acoustic guitar.” Though their busy touring schedule takes them through at least the end of the year with gigs in the States and abroad, Ross says he’d like to do a record when things wind down, “Just so we don’t have to write all new songs because we’re sick of these.”

[Photo: Getty]

T.I., “No Matter What” [Advance Track]
After the botched confessional T.I. vs. T.I.P., Clifford Harris makes another run at autobiography in this moody track, recorded while he was under house arrest. The results best his last outing effortlessly.

Various Artists, Analog Africa, Selection 1 [Mixtape]
This heart-racer of a mixtape distills the exhilarating African Scream Contest to its essentials: off-the-rails percussion, darting brass and heavenly vocals. A must.

Panic at the Disco, “Nine in the Afternoon” [Live Acoustic]
Apparently, unplugging is still what a rock band does to signal that they want to be taken seriously. Fortunately, Panic has a song strong enough to support such goofy contrivances. (more…)

There were some jarring product placements at the opening night of Panic at the Disco’s North American outing — even for something called the Honda Civic Tour. Motion City Soundtrack, the Hush Sound and Phantom Planet opened, and between sets automobile commercials alternated with videos from acts on the record label that distributes PATD’s music.

(Click here for photos from last night’s show.)

The Las Vegas quartet finally took the stage more than two and a half hours after the show began, opening with the salutary “We’re So Starving” and the current hit “Nine in the Afternoon.” The band alternated considerably less aggressive versions of tracks from A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out with stripped-down selections from its elaborate new album Pretty. Odd. Whether it was first-night jitters, a lack of sufficient rehearsal time, or the simple fact that their music is dependent on dozens of overdubs both from themselves and a myriad of outside players, Panic’s live presence was decidedly tentative. (more…)

In this week’s New Music Report, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Christian Hoard talks about two highly-anticipated follow-ups: Pretty. Odd., the new classic rock-channeling record from Panic at the Disco, and The Odd Couple, the second outing from spacey 21st-century weirdos Gnarls Barkley. Click above to see whose new album reigns supreme. Plus: Read Rob Sheffield’s review of Pretty.Odd. here.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.

[Video: Jennifer Hsu]

Panic at the Disco stopped by Rolling Stone last week, and we bombarded them with questions sent in by you, the readers, to see what makes this young quartet tick. Click above for the band’s favorite Beatles songs, what they sing in the shower and what inspired the tracks on their upcoming album Pretty.Odd.

Related Stories:

• Album Preview: Panic at the Disco
• On Tour: Panic at the Disco
• Panic at the Disco Drop Exclamation Point

[Video by Jennifer Hsu]

On Friday, Rolling Stone caught a sneak preview of Panic at the Disco’s second album, Pretty. Odd., due on March 25th. The hyper-sexualized lyrics and synth-heavy beats from 2005’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out are gone, replaced by a sound that’s directly influenced by Sgt. Pepper’s-era Beatles. Guitarist Ryan Ross, who picks up singing duties for the first time, takes on the role of Lennon to frontman Brendon Urie’s McCartney. (more…)

In news that is sure to be a relief for copy editors worldwide, a rep for Panic! at the Disco has confirmed that the band will hereafter be known as Panic at the Disco. But wait, their sophomore album will be titled Pretty. Odd. (Creative punctuation wins again.) Panic will be playing their new material live on this year’s environmentally friendly 8th Annual Honda Civic Tour, which they’ll be headlining (the tour starts April 10th at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre and wraps June 14th’s at Anaheim’s Honda Center; full dates will be announced later). While we take a moment to mourn the loss of the Las Vegas group’s exclamation point, Rock Daily would like to honor those bands who have made excellent use of it: !!!, Against Me!, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Los Campesinos!, Neu!, the Go! Team and, of course, Wham!.

Last week, Panic! at the Disco released a snippet of what they told their fans was “something for all of your patience over the last year.” The prize was a ninety-second clip from a new song called “We’re So Starving” that the band admitted would “undergo some change” when they headed to Abbey Road Studios this month to finish their sophomore record, due in March.

Fast forward to yesterday, when Pete Wentz (who signed the over-the-top Vegas quartet to his Decaydance imprint) put up a blog entry in defense of his pals: “Not too sure that anyone gets that the new Panic! song is a joke,” he wrote. “Sell me a sense of humor. The new record is different than whatever you are thinking.” What led to Wentz’s latest defense of the band? A chronology of recent Panic! developments (and a possible solution to the latest puzzle) after the jump.
(more…)