SOURCE: Atlantic Records

April 04, 2008 13:41 ET

Panic At The Disco's "PRETTY. ODD." Is Pretty Huge; Critically Acclaimed Second Album Debuts at #2 on Billboard 200, Marking Band's Biggest Sales Week to Date; Band to Celebrate on This Week's "Saturday Night Live"; 2008 Honda Civic Tour Kicks Off April 10th; Alternative Press Cover Story Out Now

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 4, 2008) - "PRETTY. ODD.," the eagerly awaited sophomore album from Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen recording group Panic At The Disco, has made a stellar debut on this week's SoundScan/Billboard 200 album chart. The critically acclaimed collection enters in the #2 spot with sales of 139,000. "PRETTY. ODD." -- which follows the Las Vegas-based band's RIAA platinum-certified 2005 debut, "A FEVER YOU CAN'T SWEAT OUT" -- debuted at #1 on SoundScan's "Current Alternative Albums" chart and #2 on the "Digital Albums" chart. In addition, "PRETTY. ODD." debuted at #2 in the UK, Canada, and Mexico, with top 10 debuts in New Zealand, Austria, and Ireland.

The album's out-of-the-box success marks the band's best-ever sales week, and one of the highest sales and chart debuts in Fueled By Ramen's history (second only to Fall Out Boy). "A victory for artistic ambition over cynical careerism," raved NME, "one of the feel-good psych-pop albums of the year."

Panic At The Disco will celebrate the success of "PRETTY. ODD." with a hugely anticipated performance on this week's edition of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," set for tomorrow, April 5th at 11:30 pm EDT/PDT (check local listings). From there, the band will head west to kick off its headlining role on the 8th annual Honda Civic Tour, slated to hit the road on April 10th and 11th with a pair of long-sold-out shows at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre. The multi-artist bill will then traverse the continent through a June 14th finale at Anaheim's Theatre at the Honda Center. Also appearing on the 2008 Honda Civic Tour will be Motion City Soundtrack, Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen's own The Hush Sound, and Fueled By Ramen's Phantom Planet.

"Nine In The Afternoon," the first single from "PRETTY. ODD.," is looking like another major radio hit for Panic At The Disco. The track is a Top 10 smash at Alternative outlets nationwide, while also scoring significant airplay at Top 40, Hot AC, and Triple A.

The track's companion video -- directed by Shane Drake, who also helmed the band's 2006 MTV Video Music Award-winning "Video of the Year," "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" -- is also proving a popular favorite. The clip is the #3 most-played video on MTV, where PATD will be featured next week as part of the network's "52 Bands," a special segment that highlights one new band per week throughout the year. What's more, the band's recent performance at MTV's annual Spring Break extravaganza in Panama City, Florida will be broadcast next week during an installment of "TRL" (check local listings). "Nine In The Afternoon" is currently the #10 most-played on MTV2, as well as the #1 video on Fuse.

"PRETTY. ODD." was recorded at Las Vegas' Studio at the Palms, with additional production and mixing at the world-renowned Abbey Road Studios in London. Produced by Grammy and Emmy Award-nominated arranger/composer Rob Mathes, the album sees Panic At The Disco embracing a melodic, classic rock-inspired aesthetic while still maintaining the visionary pop modernism that made its debut among the new millennium's most popular and successful releases.

Panic At The Disco -- presently starring on the cover of Alternative Press -- has earned a veritable ream of critical acclaim for "PRETTY. ODD." Spin awarded the set four stars, noting that PATD "have stepped up their songwriting skills" to create a "dazzling" album that is both "blindingly bright" and "optimistically beautiful." "A brave change," affirmed the New York Times' Jon Pareles, "the magnum opus of a talented band." Entertainment Weekly praised "PRETTY. ODD." as "a dense... enjoyable layer cake of ideas and instrumentation," while USA Today declared it to be "unrelentingly upbeat, melodic, and punchy." Rolling Stone commended the album for its "often beautiful" songs and "broad sense of humor."

For up-to-the-minute tour information, including ticket sales and as-yet-unannounced dates, see the band's official website, www.panicatthedisco.com, or its MySpace page, www.myspace.com/panicatthedisco. Additional news and info can be accessed at www.fueledbyramen.com and www.decaydance.com.

(TOUR ITINERARY BELOW)

                     PANIC AT THE DISCO
                        ON TOUR 2008
      All Dates - 2008 Honda Civic Tour w/ Motion City
       Soundtrack, Phantom Planet, and The Hush Sound

APRIL
10, 11  San Francisco, CA   Warfield
12      San Diego, CA       Soma
13      Phoenix, AZ         Mesa Amphitheatre
15      Oklahoma City, OK   Brady Theatre
17      Ruston, LA          Thomas Assembly Center @ Louisiana Tech
18      Dallas, TX          Palladium Ballroom
19      Austin, TX          Stubb's BBQ
20      Houston, TX         Verizon Wireless Theater
22      Clearwater, FL      Ruth Eckerd Hall
23      Miami, FL           The Fillmore Miami Beach
24, 25  Orlando, FL         House of Blues
26, 27  Atlanta, GA         The Tabernacle
29      Myrtle Beach, SC    House of Blues
30      Washington, DC      Constitution Hall

MAY
2       Orono, ME           Alfond Arena @ the University of Maine
3       Troy, NY            RPI Fieldhouse
4       E. Rutherford, NJ   The Bamboozle @ Meadowlands
6       Rochester, NY       Gordon Fieldhouse @ R.I.T.
7, 8    New York, NY        Roseland Ballroom
9       Philadelphia, PA    Festival Pier
10      Wallingford, CT     Chevrolet Theatre
11      Boston, MA          Bank of America Pavilion
13      Montreal, QC        Metropolis
14      Toronto, ON         The Sound Academy
16      Cleveland, OH       Tower City Amphitheatre
17      Columbus, OH        The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
18      Indianapolis, IN    Egyptian Room @ Murat Centre
20      Detroit, MI         The Fillmore Theatre
23, 24  Chicago, IL         Congress Theatre
25      Milwaukee, WI       Eagles Ballroom
27      Minneapolis, MN     Myth
30      St. Louis, MO       The Pageant
31      Omaha, NE           Westfair Amphitheatre

JUNE
1       Kansas City, MO     Uptown Theatre
3       Denver, CO          The Fillmore Auditorium
4       Salt Lake City, UT  Salt Air Theatre
6       Vancouver, BC       PNE Forum
7       Seattle, WA         Paramount Theatre
8       Portland, OR        Portland Exposition Center
10      Reno, NV            Grand Theatre @ Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
13      Las Vegas, NV       The Pearl
14      Anaheim, CA         The Theatre @ the Honda Center