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When a band catches that mercurial wave of mainstream popularity, the modus operandi for most is to NOT rock the boat and keep riding the wave. And that basically sums up Paramore‘s latest release, brand new eyes. The followup to their hit album Riot! is pretty much more of the same which will please most fans and will most likely continue to broaden their appeal. They’ve got that hook-laden pop/punk formula down pat.

Paramore sounds confident and comfortable in their role as a female-fronted Green Day clone. The one-two punch of album openers “Careful” and “Ignorance” feel like an overeager attempt at proving to their fans that they haven’t gone soft just yet. But things begin to click by the third track “Playing God” which features a great chorus with the memorable lines: Next time you point a finger I might have to bend it back or break it, break it off. Next time you point a finger I’ll point you to the mirror.

It’s a bit unfortunate that producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and the band chose to master this sucker “loud”. Granted the brick-walled, in-your-face sound is standard for this genre, but man, it’s brutal on the ears. Ear-fatigue is a given when listening to this album for an extended period of time. But even so, the band is poised to widen their already massive fanbase with radio-ready hits like “Where the Lines Overlap”, “Looking Up” and “All I Wanted” which features Hayley Williams channeling her inner-diva (think: Kelly Clarkson).

retroGrade: B+

Paramore – brand new eyes
released: September 2009
record label: Fueled by Ramen
produced by: Rob Cavallo

TrackList:
1 Careful (Farro, Williams) 03:50
2 Ignorance (Farro, Williams) 03:38
3 Playing God (Farro, Williams, York) 03:02
4 Brick by Boring Brick (Farro, Williams) 04:13
5 Turn It Off (Farro, Williams) 04:19
6 The Only Exception (Farro, Williams) 04:27
7 Feeling Sorry (Farro, Williams, York) 03:05
8 Looking Up (Farro, Williams) 03:29
9 Where the Lines Overlap (Farro, Williams) 03:18
10 Misguided Ghosts (Farro, Williams, York) 03:01
11 All I Wanted (Williams, York) 03:45

watch Paramore at the mtvU Ulalume Festival performing “Brick By Boring Brick”:

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Gwen Stefani doesn’t really need No Doubt. Over the last few years, she proved this ten times over with two smash solo albums and two highly successful tours. Most likely the group needs her. Her long time bandmates – Tom Dumont, Adrian Young and Tony Kanal haven’t been doing a whole lot (relatively speaking) during Stefani’s absence. So when No Doubt announced a summer tour last month, it seemed pretty clear it was to get some cash flow going for those three bandmates. Stefani certainly doesn’t need to go back to the group and some may even say it’s a bad career move. But obviously she cares for her former bandmates and is more than willing to help them in their time of financial need. Yes, I know they’ve stated that they need this tour to get their creative juices flowing for an upcoming studio album but ask any musician and they’ll tell you flat out that the wear and tear of being on the road isn’t all the conducive to writing new music.

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as a middle-aged music blogger, I tend to overlook some of the bands that are popular among the younger demographic. and if you’re a frequent visitor here on retroblog, you know that I tend to slant toward dinosaur rock i.e. Journey, Genesis, Todd Rundgren, Asia, etc. so with that said, I have to mention a young band that I’ve been rockin’ out to this week in the old SUV stereo system. it’s pop/emo/rock band Paramore. yes, I know I’m pretty late in the game in terms of blogging about the group and their album Riot! has been out for over a year but I just thought i’d post about them here just in case there are some other folks like me out there that aren’t that familiar with the band. the album is a fun listen with tons of energy and melodies galore. yes- they sound like Avril clones, yes- I hear some use of the dreaded “autotune” on Hayley Williams’ vocals, yes- some of the songs are formulaic and the pseudo-metal guitar sound gets a bit old and YES – it’s a bit weird liking these kids that are probably half my age… but, the larger than life hooks, their great sense of melody and their enthusiastic playing override all the negatives in this case. they’ve got a big thumbs up from this old man! a guilty pleasure? hell yeah. rock on!

personal favorites off of Riot! include: For a Pessimist I’m Pretty Optimistic, Thats What You Get, Misery Business and When It Rains

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