Panic! At The Disco

A discovery of pop-punk superstars Fall Out Boy, the Las Vegas emo band Panic! At the Disco (named for a Smiths song), stormed the charts in 2005 while its members were barely old enough to vote. Offering a highly danceable take on the emo formula of pop melodies, punk guitars, and heart-on-sleeve lyrics, Panic! are as much a symbol of the power of new digital media--download sites, blogs, DIY Internet outlets like My Space--as they are of the state of music in the early 2000s. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, the band's debut album, FEVER YOU CAN'T SWEAT OUT, sold almost 10,000 copies the first week of its release.

• rock
• alternative/indie