Love them or hate them, Paramore are absolutely massive right now. To be honest I’m surprised this level of fandom didn’t come earlier. ‘All We Know Is Falling’ had all the hallmarks of a truly inspirational record, after all. And no, I’m not entirely being serious. But when you consider the pop-punk world has been male dominated for quite some time, when a young lady comes along and sings about how she sees the world from her point of view, it’s pretty clear legions of new fans – male and female – will proclaim her as the ‘saviour of all things punk’ and a new spokeswoman for their generation. After all, ever since Avril Lavigne sold the kids down the river by (shock, gasp) ‘dancing’ in her latest video, the kids need a new icon. So step forward Hayley Williams, a pint-sized pop princess in the making with a shock of dyed orange hair and, seemingly, the attitude to boot. And while she may tell us that Paramore is a band, and not just a girl and three backing musicians, something tells me that if they were fronted by a man, they wouldn’t be getting the coverage they are now. So hot right now? Paramore are about the ‘scene’s’ biggest buzz band – and then some.
So what to make of ‘Riot!’, the self-proclaimed ‘personal’ new album which, if the media frenzy continues, will send Paramore straight into the stratosphere? Well, truth be told, it’s not too bad. I quite enjoyed the first record, as patchy as it was, and this new album continues in exactly the same vein. The easy way of writing this review is to say this – if you liked album number one, you will definitely like album number two. But looking at this album objectively – and ignoring young Hayley and the way she looks as best I can – you have to say it’s a little over-egged and over-hyped. There are a few good songs on this record, don’t get me wrong, but it’s so patchy and flaky at times it spils the flow.
The mid-paced tracks are turgid and dull, complete with generic ‘woe-is-me’ lyrics penned straight from a diary entry. It’s been heard before, we’ll hear it again. The number of filler-esque tracks written around the standout future singles is rather alarming, suggesting band and label wanted to eek this album out as quick as they could in time for summer. ‘When It Rains’ and ‘We Are Broken’, for instance, are dull, dull, dull and don’t showcase the singer’s vocal range – which is, hand on heart, actually very impressive, or the band’s ability to rock the fuck out in a very enjoyable pop-punk stylee.
Which, let’s face it, is what Paramore do best. And when they’re doing that well, they’re as good as anyone around right now. The sad fact is, they just don’t do it enough on ‘Riot!’ ‘For A Pessimist I’m Pretty Optimistic’ is a fantastic opening slab of fast-paced pop punk, with Hayley shrieking and flinging herself around with abandon. And it’s this type of song which suits the band best, a quick up-tempo number which begs to be sung along to. It’d make a great soundtrack for a round of hi-fives. ‘Misery Business’ is a fucking tune, I don’t care what anyone says, with a hook the size of Africa. We’ve all seen the video, it’s been everywhere, and it sums up what Paramore should sound like. If the album was full of tunes like that, I’d be proclaiming them bigger than Jesus. Sadly it’s just ‘crushcrushcrush’ and ‘Born For This’ that keep the pace up, the remaining tracks seem to wander or meander and are ultimately largely forgettable.
‘Riot!’ is only a disappointment because of all the pre-release hype. In places it’s excellent, in other mediocre. It’s never complete rubbish, although some tracks are on the dire side. I maintain that if a fat, ugly bird – or indeed a man – fronted Paramore they’d be no bigger than the myriad of other bands in the scene, but that’s not Hayley’s fault. She’s being played as part of the system, like it or not, and the men in suits can nicely cash-in on girl power and all that jazz. ‘Riot!’ is a fun summer album. Don’t take it too seriously and you might just like it.