Let The Flames Begin...

Shh... do you hear that? That's the sound of any indie cred I had shrivelling up and dying, since I'm gonna talk tonight about "Riot!", Paramore's most recent album. Sure, it's a very different album, and a very different band, from everything else I've looked at so far, but 'tis still an excellent album, and well worth the effort. So unblock your ears and steel yourself all ye indie kids, for we're going on a daytrip to Emoland!

Let's get this out of the way first - Paramore are an emo band. They be young (God I felt old typing that!), loud and frequently overly-emotional/straight-up angsty. However, for the remainder of this review, suspend your general waryness and bigotry against Emo music - I know it is a beautifully easy target that won't fight back that much, but that is a discussion for another time. For the interests of this review, emo is rock is alternative is whatever - 'tis all music, and frequently good.

Right, down (finally) to the music! Riot is the 2nd album from the band, and even if you're never heard of the band, you've probably heard some of their stuff - be it (the rather stupidly titled) "Crushcrushcrush" from the Twilight OST, or "Misery Business", which seems to have been on every 360 game for the last 6 months. Myself, it took me about 2 months of being stalked by their songs before I took them seriously and gave them a proper listen, and was pleasantly surprised! Frontwoman Hayley Williams has a voice far surpassing her 21 years, and it is her vocal ability that is the driving force behind the band. Tracks such as "Hallelujah" show her to have a strong range, and the emotional kick to back that power up. The rest of the band have more than their fair share of skill and back up Hayley perfectly, but this is really her show, and she steals it well and truly.

I want to talk for a moment about the lyrics. Straying back into stereotypical emo territory for a moment, a large part of my troubles with emo music comes from the supremely depressing/self-pitying nature of the lyrics. Now, I'm all up for a bit of that every now and again, but most bands seem to be something of a one-trick pony - 'tis self-pity and angst, or nothing. Though I was expecting that from Paramore, I was surprised to find a real vein of strength and optimism running through the songs. Songs such as the aformentioned "Hallelujah", or "Miracle" concern themselves with trying to save relationships and being strong in the face of things going tits up, rather than running away. There is a temptation to label this strength as feminism just because it is sung by a woman, but I think this is misguided. I think it speaks more from a genuine positive view on life by the band, rather than an attempt by Williams to leverage her sex for the good of her songs. It would still be powerful whether it was sung by a man or woman. Nevertheless, other songs run the spectrum from stereotypical "we're young and don't like how you run the world" rantings of "Born for this" to obsession with "Stop this song". The lyrics can be blunt and lacking finesse much of the time, but it fits with the fast and powerful style of music paired with them.

Musically, Riot fits into the pigeonholes of power-pop/pop-rock/emo/whatever - heavy distortion is the order of the day, with fast guitar-work and a drummer who plays like he has made mortal enemies with the crash cymbal for all he beats the poor thing. There is only really one song where they slow it down - the rather pretty, if a wee bit cliche, "We Are Broken", which sonds more than a little like something Amy Lee would put out. I guess that is quite a good byline for this album - it is very safe. It breaks no new ground, but it never intends to - it won't tax the listener at all, but it is an awesome album to just kick back and enjoy. And I can imagine it would really come into it's own at a gig, since this sort of powerful, heavy distorted rock is always best listened to ear-breakingly loud, with about 200 other sweaty people having the time of their lives. So, if you get a chance, grab a copy of the album - and if you can, get the special edition, 'cause there are some good extra tracks stuck onto it. Before I go, here's some links to get you started:

CrushCrushCrush

Misery Business

That's What You Get

Peace,

J