A few new arrivals today that I wanted to call out, because several of them are from bands I unabashedly love.
First and foremost is Paramore, a band that — in a trend that continues to baffle me — still gets shit from certain quarters. Quarters which, I guess, have a problem with huge hooks and endless energy. I’ve seen this band live twice, and both times was completely floored.
Of their breakthrough album Riot!, Maris says:
Let’s clear something up right away: Hayley Williams is not a flash-in-the-pan pop tart. She is not — despite the inevitable comparisons — Avril Lavigne. Yes, she has all the trappings of the interchangeable emo flavor of the week. She’s got bright red hair (sometimes it’s more of a citrus-orange with a touch of yellow, sometimes it’s pink). She’s got the requisite piercings and tattoos (including a lightning bolt tribute to the Warped tour). Williams definitely has swagger: she belts out songs with such “do not fuck with me” delivery that it’s difficult to discuss her vocal style without invoking the word “bratty.” But here’s where the distinction kicks in: In 2007, at the ripe old age of 18, she led her energetic, stadium-annihilating band Paramore on their breakthrough second album. Riot! showed the world that Hayley Williams could do more than hang with the boys — she could overtake them.
And if its followup, Brand New Eyes, I say:
The best moment on Paramore’s Brand New Eyes — a record full of great moments — comes in “Where the Lines Overlap,” when vocalist Hayley Williams breaks the fourth wall and belts: “I’ve got a feeling if I sing this loud enough, you’ll sing it back to me.” It’s a jarring moment, the rock equivalent of Jeff Daniels stepping off the screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo. The “you” in that lyric is, of course, you the listener, you the potential future audience member who will, when Williams sings the line in question, do exactly as you are told. This isn’t compulsory — it’s simple reflex: What Paramore are best at is writing songs that result in both joy and an almost subconscious desire for full-bodied active participation; they’re a hyperactive hypnotists with a badass lead vocalist and hundred-mile-an-hour hooks.
And, in closing, there’s also this:
Also new today is the latest record from another band I love, Against Me!. I’m not as fully into White Crosses as some of their other albums, but first single “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” is in my Top 5 songs of 2010. To briefly excerpt my review:
If there is any question that the Against Me! that recorded White Crosses is wholly different than the Against Me! that recorded Reinventing Axl Rose, those doubts are put to rest with the title of the second song: “I Was A Teenage Anarchist.” That past-tense state-of-being verb is key, acting at once as acceptance, disavowment and — naysayers be damned — sign of genuine progress. It’s also a bit of an in-joke, a direct reference to, and repudiation of, one of the group’s famous early songs, “Baby, I’m an Anarchist!” Tom Gabel at 22 was burning down buildings; Tom Gabel at 29 is acknowledging “the politics are too convenient.” He’s also writing better choruses.
We also got a bunch of Chicago records.
Also arriving are a bunch of new titles from Kompakt, including that Gas box-set.
Best Chicago recap ever, Joe!
Didn’t know Against Me! would arrive eventually. It’s not BAD, but it’s most certainly NOT New Wave. A lot of Springsteen in that sonic soup. More than I expected. It’s weird to listen to Arcade Fire, Hold Steady, and Against Me! while not caring much for The Boss. It’s a bit paradoxical.
I don’t think Against Me! is new wave either but then sometimes it’s hard to categorise, so your opinion counts (it’s your blog!)
Been reading the rest of your blog too and love it, keep up the good work!
Hi Scarlet! I think we both meant Against Me!’s album New Wave rather than the style
Glad you found the blog, hope you keep coming back and also hope you check out eMusic!
Hey, that’s crap. My pro-early Chicago comment is gone. It was here yesterday.
Really?? Super-weird. We never delete comments, unless they’re really, really offensive. This happens from time to time — I checked the interface, though, and I don’t see it there, either. Please re-post! This thing swallows comments from time to time. Occasionally, it is benign. Though I remember one time about a year ago that it was swallowing comments that we really, really wished it wasn’t….
Reposting my thoughts re: Chicago, and why they shouldn’t be outright dismissed.
The first two albums are golden (especially II, even though the sound quality has always been absolutely dreadful; the DVD-Audio remix makes it sound like a whole new album, but in a good way, unlike the remix of Graham Nash’s Songs For Beginners, which is a mockery of a travesty of a sham). The third one is bloated, but “Sing A Mean Tune Kid” is a kickass opener. The fourth album was the Carnegie Hall live 40 album set or whatever, so just skip to V, which was the last really great album the group made. It’s a bummer when artists get old, discover synthesizers and power ballads, and no group personified this tragedy better (worse?) than Chicago. You listen to “25 Or 6 To 4″ and then “If You Leave Me Now” (which is a guilty pleasure even though it’s a giant piece of crap) and you wonder what the hell happened.