Neon Reviews: Paramore – Brand New Eyes

September 28, 2009 by TJ
Filed under Reviews

Paramore - brand new eyes

The problem with having a massive hit on pop radio and the TRL (before MTV terminated the critically ill music video countdown show) when you’re a rock band like Paramore striving for credibility is music fans outside of your dedicated bubble suddenly think you’re one of those acts — a band put together to cater to pre-teens, the most fickle bunch of music fans there are.

What “Misery Business” and RIOT! — the album it came from — did for the Tennessee band was put them on a pedestal for youngsters looking for a voice (and cute face in frontwoman Hayley Williams) for their against. What their new album brand new eyes (lower case for a reason, apparently) will do for them is secure their place as a band worthy of a few spins by that “prog-rock is the only real rock” touting listener while keeping the fanbase they’ve grown since their 2005 debut.

Often full of rage, brazenly cynical, and, at times, surprisingly sensitive, brand new eyes is a boiling pot of emotion that spills over with each wail and whisper of Williams’ chilling voice.

In “Ignorance,” the lead single from the set, they take everything that made “Misery Business” a smash and pump it up to the next level with harder, louder guitar rifts and cut-throat lyrics. “Where’s your gavel, your jury?/What’s my offense this time?/You’re not a judge but if you’re gonna judge me, sentence me to another life.”

“Playing God” takes jabs at the self-righteous, holier-than-thou types. “Next time you point a finger/I might have to bend it back and break it, break it off/Next time you point a finger/I’ll point it to the mirror.” Ouch!

Cynicism meets romance on the mellow, acoustic guitar-driven “The Only Exception,” where Williams tries her best to trust in a new beau and brush off her preconceived notion that all love must end, formed by watching her parents’ relationship crumble as a child (”You are the only exception…and I’m on my way to believing”).

In “Looking Up” they seem to address the break-up rumors they were plagued with while they were between albums. “It’s not a dream anymore/it’s worth fighting for,” Hayley sings on the chorus. “I can’t believe we almost hung it up/we’re just getting started.” Seems like when Paramore decided not to hang it up, they buckled down to make one of the year’s most honest-to-goodness captivating pop-rock offerings. Longevity is a certainty with the flock of new, more mature fans they’re sure to gain with brand new eyes. They’re just getting started indeed.

Tweet This Buzz This Delicious Digg This Facebook Reddit Stumble This