sailorstkwrning

Per Dallon, they have a guitarist.

No name released yet, though.

I've seen at least one Tumblr post inviting us to contemplate the magic of Kevin Jonas in the role. Now that line of speculation isn't new, but it nonetheless amuses me.

Kevin Jonas.

It kind of makes me giggle hysterically.

I mean it really would be funny. Can you imagine? Adding a Jonas brother to the existing circus? COMPLETE CHAOS.

(I have no thoughts on who it might actually be; I presume some young talented but until now relatively unknown will have won the lottery, as it were, and have to tell all of his friends and family to brace themselves because he's part of a pop juggarnaut now.)

Panic! is kind of at an interesting place in their development. Eight years (counting from AFYCSO) as a band feels like a long time, now. Nine years if you count from the very beginning.

To give you an idea: After 8 or 9 years together, Mötley Crüe made Dr. Feelgood. Coldplay made X&Y. (And on the other end of the scale, Pearl Jam made Binaural and Poison put out a greatest hits album.)

They've certainly been on a roller-coaster: backwater baby band who hadn't played a single show to superfamous practically overnight, line-up changes, a steep drop in popularity, the split, the triumphant (kind of) return, more line-up changes. And they did all of that while living on internet time.

Now here they are again, new line-up, new sound, new public presentation, i.e. Brendon Urie's ongoing transition to dramatic, dynamic frontman.

(Oh he was always dramatic and dynamic, I know, but this seems like . . . a new level of positioning. Like he's stepping up his game. Or else his PR people are.)

I'm excited to see what's going to happen. Bring it, gentlemen.

So today JWalk tweeted this:
( picture )
That is a line from TYV's song Defiance; my reaction was mostly "oh, they were talking about a REAL BRIDGE?" followed by "ok, but where IS that real bridge?"

And then the TYV FB account (which I am presuming is . . . also Jon Walker, because it has been promoting Jon Walker's solo career lately) sprang to life after four months dormant and posted this:
( second picture )
That is a line from TYV's song Dangerous Blues.

The dates, as presented, suggest the pictures were taken during the last Panic! tour before the split.

WTF, Jon Walker??

I mean I know the obvious answer is JWalk had a burst of nostalgia but . . . IDK the lyric choices seem especially pointed.

I should maybe call this Today In: The Sphinx Speaks!

Ryan Ross sparked up last night and got really chatty with fans on Twitter and the following emerged:

- He's in a band! (name not given; "for now call it Something Else")
- With other people! (that he didn't name, but I have a feeling includes Greenwald)
- The kind of music they make is, variously, "Apocalypse Rock" "if LMFAO were bad dressers" and "the soundtrack for the end of the world".
- There will be music soon but not too soon.

He also noted that he needed a new nanny. I am assuming he meant for himself/it was just wry commentary.

In other news:

- Phantom Planet have reunited and are playing two shows in LA in June.
- Panic! has finished their UK tour and will be heading back into the studio.
- The Hush Sound have also gotten back together for at least one show
- JJAMZ is recording an album. (I thought they had done this last summer; Michael Runion mentioned sending something off to be mixed. Maybe they didn't like what they got back? IDK.)

this is in no way a proper update, but I am noting here for the record the Brendon Urie announced his engagement on 9/19/11 with a Princess Bride reference, i.e. the "Mawwaige" speech.

Though I suppose technically Zack announced it the night before with his "he asked, she answered" tweet, which was purported (by him!) to be him trolling us with a movie quote. The source, if there is one, is somewhat drowned by fannish chatter, so if anyone knows what it is, pls holler.

Thus far, JWalk has had no comment (no surprise there; he didn't get or give any birthday greetings this year) and Ryan has only tweeted At a cry fair on the clown farm which . . . uh, okay, Mr. Ross. Right. Swapping the key phrases around, i.e. on a clown farm at the cry fair makes even less sense, so i think it was meant to be read as written.

Incidentally there is such a thing as a Clown Farm. It's in Alberta, Canada and seems to be very fancy clown school. There's also a Baby Huey (cartoon) episode called Clown On The Farm from, er, 1952, so maybe he's just noodling around YouTube.

Baby Huey, incidentally, is a duck in 1) a diaper 2) a bonnet and 3) a belly shirt.

Dallon, Ian and Spencer have also been quiet, but then again they are all in Indonesia.

**

On the subject of birthday greetings, they were exchanged between camps for both Ryan's birthday and Spencer's. Hilarious note: Ryan apparently still has the picture of Spencer wearing nothing but goggles/a snorkel.

Also, for Ryan's birthday, Keltie posted a picture of a tiny, tiny bb!Ryan in a karate outfit, and everyone teased Ryan gently about being an "old man". (At age 25. If he's old, I think I might be dead.)

Since 2/24:

Brendon: Had dinner at a fancy cafe in advance of shooting another video (movie?) with Shane Drake; was excited about lobster ravioli; was pleasantly sore post-show (not going to lie, I made an undignified noise when I saw the video of him stage-diving); went to Vegas and quoted a random dude the subject of gambling ("luck is the residue of design"); promoted The Overture; was worn out from too much flying; various radio-show related tweets;

got new specially labeled in-ears ("this is your left ear" " this is your right ear" - Brendon, do you need your mittens on a string as well??); was irritated by someone standing too close to him at the urinal in an otherwise empty bathroom (seriously the arrangements in men's rooms sound so odd - who wants to pee in public? like, ever??); gently teased a fan who had equally gently scolded him for TMI regarding the urinal tweet; and noted that his thoughts were with Japan but rather than praying he was donating to the Red Cross.

Retweets: their Roxy support band burbling about the show; band twitter sharing JMonts review of the record; fun. in the studio (picture); his friend's Tumblr post with New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle; one of the radio stations sharing pictures from the show.

Spencer: Noted that "Hail in Burbank" sounded like the name of the next big AP band; various filming-related tweets, including a picture from on-set and a shot of a celebratory drink from In-and-Out afterwards; various show and radio-show related tweets; went to Bakersfield with a Field of Dreams allusion, saw Never Say Never (Justin Bieber movie) in 3-D, followed by The Kings Speech; reminisced with Thomas Durden about playing shows at Jerry's Pizza; shared a picture of their SXSW poster and a shot of a sign at Mandalay Bay;

discussed SXSW with Regan and seeing The Strokes/checking out a new venue with another friend; promoted The Overturel enjoyed some Hefeweizen beer; encouraged everyone to vote for them in MTV March Madness again this year (it starts on Monday); shared a picture of his new in-ears which feature a cameo of Edgar Allen Poe with a raven on his head; asked the internet if he was sitting near Robert Duvall at the airport; and finally was hilariously foiled by a 140 character limit in promoting a show, i.e. "If your gonna be there then prepare to get blown" followed hastily by "Away. Damn this 140 character bull$!**"

Retweets: band twitter sharing JMonts review of the record and a limited poster and a radio station sharing pictures.

Other Notes: March Madness, OH GOD THIS IS GOING TO BE AWKWARD ISN'T IT? Though maybe not, since TYV doesn't seem to be in it as of right now. Though I can't wait to see how JMont glosses over THAT when he's setting up the brackets.,

Since Jan. 16:

Brendon Shared a Gawker.tv link to the video of the tripping housewife; rt'd his ladyfriend's tweet of a picture of their dog; officially announced the release of their new record on March 29; thanked Argentina for an amazing show and an overall good time; various promotional tweets, i.e. bananas music club, the clip of the video for the Ballad of Mona Lisa, and shout-outs to various radio shows; shared a Hulu link to The Seminar episode of The Office; rt'd Butch Walker's twitpic of The Ballad of Mona Lisa playing on his car stereo; linked to the video of Today show hosts trying to explain the internet in 1994; was amazed by wifi on planes and planes in general;

was a little bit snarky to a fan who missed the Argentina show; declared that words couldn't convey how he felt about the New York show because it was too sacred; told JMont that he would take "baroquetronica" as a descriptor of their sound; traded lines of Frank Sinatra's They Can't Take That Away From Me with his ladyfriend; had a mango tango smoothie to balance out jaeger shots bought for them by a fan (or maybe bar employee? not sure); and finally rt'd a link to a fan cover of The Ballad of Mona Lisa on YouTube.

Also, he's changed his background to the album art for Mona Lisa.

Spencer HE'S ALIVE! Since he sparked back up, he's made various promotional tweets - radio stations and the pre-order - and also thanked people for coming out to shows in New York and Philadelpia; noted he was feeling pretty good, post-Jaeger shots in Virginia; shared a picture of Brendon looking unimpressed in the snow in what appeared to be a graveyard with above-ground masoleums; and finally quoted someone as saying the mac and cheese they were eating should be rated NC-17.

Brendon: Had a couple of conversations with Ryan Ross (!) about freaky weekends and funkadelic grooves; worked on some "backgrounds" with Butch Walker; went out for Halloween (in Vegas) as "Guitar Hero" (you are the most ridiculous, Brendon Urie, and I love your stupid face) (side note: the group costume theme seemed to be "heroes"; Shane went as Kick-Ass, Sarah as Storm, and Regan as Lady Gaga, which, that could be an interesting cultural conversation about what qualifies as a "hero"); got the chorus of "Only Girl (In the World)" (Rihanna) stuck in his head (and asked if that was "gay"); asked the Internet for their favorite Sinatra song and recommended The Divine Comedy (band, not Dante);

appreciated some eggs under the guise of a tweet for Jesus (?!); was possibly disappointed by a line about guns in Avatar; recommended What's Up, Tiger Lily (Woody Allen movie); had a 48-hour flu and was stir-crazy; promised us new music soon; shared a picture of his dog taking a sun-bath; asked the internet what the new record should be called; shared a link to a video complilation of 5 ridiculous Sarah Palin moments from her new reality show, as compiled by Gawker; RT'd the link for Shane and Dallon's commercial several times; ate a lot of food for Thanksgiving; noted the passing of Leslie Nielsen; was apologetic about the Argentina show being postponed and vowed to fix it; and RT'd Zack talking about a marijuana documentary.

Spencer: Has no thoughts to share with the internet at this time.

Panic:

Brendon: Would love to believe in life on Mars, and so maybe he will; also he is looking forward to the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Spencer: Has no thoughts that he wishes to share with the Internets at this time.

The Young Veins:

Jon goes first this week, since he has the most exciting news! I (and the rest of the Internet) am taking that "engaged!" to mean "to be married." Woooo! Congratulations, Mr. Walker. He also noted the 5 year anniversary of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, though, strangely, not the release of the video for Take a Vacation. Further Twitter-related data points: both MTV Buzzworthy and OneHaven tweeted video-related news solely to Ryan and the band twitter; I have a suspicion that the band twitter is run by Nick Murray.

Ryan on the other hand, made no mention of Fever at all, but did RT the band twitter and MTV's tweets about the video and (as it turned out) his solo appearance on Subterranean. Also noted that having an immortal enemy was way worse than having a mortal enemy; complained about the long lasting effects of Tylenol PM; recommended Who is Harry Nilsson? (movie); noted that the B-52s sang the theme song for Rocko's Modern Life (Nickelodean cartoon, 1993-1996); asked the internet what constituted a "floppy appearance", but didn't specify what it was that was supposed to appear floppy; RT'd a comment from Ponytail Groovin' about them both being from the same part of the wrong side of the tracks (so maybe PG isn't Greenwald?); shared that his iPhone corrects "bonehead" to "vinegars" and was possibly puzzled that it was vinegars, plural;

shared a picture of the beach followed by a RT of CNN's story about LA's record high temperature; was puzzled by the popularity of the martini glass on the grounds that it looks like a plate (what martini glasses have you been drinking out of, Ryan??); bit a baby on the head (the following exchange with a friend suggests baby = puppy, in this case, which may or may not be related to the "floppy appearance" query); wished people only had 140 characters in real life; wasn't sure if he'd rather go to a The Like show or watch a new episode of Tosh.0 (he later showed up in the picture TL shared from the casino); had some beef jerky in Baker; and narrowly missed rescuing Shane Valdes from waiting by the side of the road for a towtruck. The tow truck discussion included a reference to Adventures in Babysitting by Shane and the hook-hand killer urban legend by Ryan.

Andy: Went out Trick or Treating (already?) and asked the internet what curfew was supposed to be while noting that he knew he had to be home by the time the street lights were on.

Nick: Wished another fan a happy birthday; offered to trade a present to whoever could get him into Knott's Scary Farm for free; was possibly mildly annoyed that he's been into alien disclosures lately; saw Pavement and Sonic Youth and remembered why he grew out of Pavement at 17 but felt Sonic Youth's set was too short; rt'd his other band's (Black Apples) appearance in a Pepsi commercial though he had to work the morning it was shot; and finally wanted to beat the heat by sitting in a nice cold air conditioned theater and watching horror movies.

The Like: Took in a Daria (cartoon, MTV, 1997-2002) marathon on the Logo network; Z got her stitches out at her pediatrician's office; various West Coast tour related announcements; shared a link to their interview with Nemone at BBC6; also rt'd the CNN headline about the heatwave; RT'd comic Jordan Rubin's comment about Mad Men, 1980s-style; drove through the Mojave listening to Bowie; Annie got 21 at blackjack her first time in Vegas, ; Wishing He Was Dead appeared in the 9/30 episode of Gray's Anatomy; and finally RT'd two pieces of fan art which were renditions of themselves as The Beatles.

Brendon: Thanked Polish fans for their video "thank you" to the band for playing at Coke Fest and rt'd Dallon sharing a link to an Inception-themed cat video. I haven't seen the movie so I have no idea what any of it is supposed to mean. But there's a comically wide-eyed cat and dramatic music, so it's not a painful two minutes, or whatever.

Spencer: Completed two full months of radio silence.


( the young veins )

The Like: Assorted promotional and show related chatter, including a reminder that the Birmingham show was cancelled; shared links to their Reading/Leeds interview and live conversation on BBC 6Music (today). The biggest news was probably that the opener for their Brighton show was Johnny Borrell of Razorlight's new band. They didn't give a name, and the one show report I read said 1) the name isn't known, 2) the new band sounds like "Americana with Beck influences" and finally 3) the band members who were not Johnny Borrell came out in vests and cowboy hats. All I can wonder is if "He's Not a Boy" is actually about Borrell and if so, if it was at all awkward playing it with him right there.

Brendon: Only comment was to retweet Shane's comment and the link to The Picture.

Spencer: Radio silence continues.

Also Zack got married this past weekend!