This Las Vegas, Nevada based US pop punk outfit was one of a number of new bands to emerge in the early years of the new millennium who could attribute their success to the power of social networking music websites.
School friends Ryan Ross (guitar), Brendon Urie (b. 12 April 1987, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; vocals/guitar), Spencer Smith (drums) and Brent Wilson (bass) began playing together in 2005, adopting their unusual title (originally Panic! At The Disco) from a Smiths-referencing song by Californian band Name Taken. The quartet posted a number of early demos online at their PureVolume site that were accessed by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. Wentz was suitably impressed and facilitated a recording contract with his Fueled By Ramen-distributed Decaydance imprint. Remarkably, the quartet was still at high school when the contract was signed and had been playing together for less than a year. Their debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out followed at the end of 2005, and reached the US and UK mainstream Top 20 charts. The album was unusual in that the first eight songs relied heavily on electronics and synthesizers, while the remaining five tracks (including the US hit "I Write Sins Not Tragedies") featured more conventional instruments. Jon Walker replaced Brent Wilson in May 2006.
