Paramore has slowly and steadily infiltrated our collective musical radar over the past few years, and while the pixie-femme-fronted quartet seem like easy potshot targets for music critics and fans whose ages no longer end in "teen," their radio singles have stood out among those of their pop-rock factory contemporaries.
That seems to be most of the problem here: with select exception, it's not hard to see that the collective creative of Paramore is entirely disposable. Hayley Williams has a steadily-improving command of her own considerable vocal abilities, but nowhere on Paramore's latest release, Brand New Eyes, is it more evident than on their non-album acoustic cover of Kings Of Leon’s "Use Somebody". Free of the sonically-opaque radio compression that pervades their work, it's clear that Williams' abilities transcend those of her bandmates, who seem more concerned with the ridiculous angles of their hairstyles than pushing their own musical envelope.
While Brand New Eyes may be a fitting follow-up to Riot!, there's just enough maturation to keep Paramore from getting too repetitive - and that's it. That's the draw. It's an uninspiring collection of filler, with select few highlights. Welcome to the record industry, circa 2009.
"Ignorance" seems to be the reason Brand New Eyes exists at all; tales of band dysfunction ran rampant over the past year, and it became known soon after that Paramore barely made it through the first steps of stardom. But they prevailed on a one-hit stroke of pop-junkie heaven that resulted in endless radio rotation (just try to get the two-part chorus out of your head). This one track, while not really anything special, stands out from the pack on Brand New Eyes and gives the illusion of something worth listening for. But with all illusions, the dream fades - and quickly.
The lyrics in Playing God are cheesy and infantile, while the rest of Brand New Eyes boasts a sameness that may sound great to a record company suit looking for a "vibe" to sell to the kiddies, it wallows in the muck of mediocrity, seemingly willingly.
"Turn It Off"'s unorthodox delivery is a contender for their next single, though word on the street is that Hayley and co. are eyeing the underwhelming "Brick By Boring Brick" and predictably the very girlfriend-friendly" The Only Exception" instead. In the end, it doesn't matter. Paramore may be good at crafting little pop gems, but without a serious lineup change and a desire to grow the f*ck up as musicians, this band of industry darlings is going nowhere fast.
Just add 'em to the pile.
CraveOnline's Rating: 4 out of 10
