The Panic Bell is the fifth studio album by
Chicago based
alt-country band
Dolly Varden. Released in February 2007 it was their first album since
Forgiven Now in 2002. The album was recorded over a period of about a year after the band had taken a long hiatus from playing together. It includes songs influenced by the continuing violence in Iraq and the prisoner abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib, which led to some of the band's rawest recordings.