riot

Parawho? – you might ask. Formed in 2004, this young pop-punk band from Franklin, Tennessee, consisting of vocalist 19-year-old Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis, 22, lead guitarist Josh Farro, 20 and drummer Zac Farro, 17, is largely unheard of in Singapore, but it sure is rapidly creating waves especially in the United States.

Riot!, their sophomore album was released in the US on Jun 12, almost 2 years after their 2005 debut, All We Know Is Falling, has already sold more than 80,000 copies in the US alone. The music video for their hit single “Misery Business” even made its way to MTV Total Request Live’s vote list, ranking alongside music videos from the heavyweights of the music industry like Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done”, Gwen Stefani’s “4 in the Morning” and Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry”.

The Band

On Jul 26, 2005, Paramore released their debut album, All We Know Is Falling. Not bad, considering that more than half of the members of Paramore weren’t even 18 whentheir debut was released.

Managed by record label Fueled by Ramen, who also has bands like Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco in its stable, the band certainly has huge potential to go international. The band is currently touring the US till late Aug as part of Warped Tour 2007 and will also be performing in major cities around the world like Amsterdam, London, Melbourne and even Tokyo in the following months.

Their Music

Don’t be taken aback when you first hear Paramore’s front-woman, vocalist 19-year-old Hayley Williams hitting the notes. You’ll probably find the voice strangely familiar, but no, you’ve not accidentally stumbled upon a never-been-heard-before album of Canadian singer Avril Lavigne.

Riot!, as the name suggests, is a good mix of the different sounds and influences that are so evident in the variety of tracks in the album. Tracks like “We Are Broken” and “When The Flames Begin” will probably catch listeners by surprise as the beats and delivery for both tracks are not typical of the pop punk genre like Simple Plan. But if you need your usual fix of pop punk tunes of emo teenage angst and declaration of puppy love woes that this genre usually offers, you’ll not be disappointed with tracks like “That’s What You Get “ and “For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic”.

A warning though: If you ain’t a fan of the pop punk genre that is usually more popular with emo teenagers, you’ll probably turn Paramore off after listening to the first few tracks of Riot!.

They do get pretty boring if you listen to the tracks in chronological order and you’ll probably get a déjà vu feeling of Britney Spears’s first album where tracks like “Baby One More Time” and “(You Drive Me) Crazy” sounds almost identical. It is, however, a pity to dismiss them so soon, as tracks like “We Are Broken” do grow on you after you listen to it long enough.

Although there’s a track entitled “Hallelujah” in Riot! that can be construed as a Christian song, Josh is quick to correct any misconception during an interview with AbsolutePunk.net. explaining that while Paramore’s members are Christians, they’re not a Christian band. So if you’re looking for gospel music that will help in your spiritual walk, Riot! probably isn’t the album you’re after.

What lies ahead

From how the band has evolved and grown in maturity since All We Know Is Falling, the future of Paramore certainly seems bright. But what the band really needs is to break through from the clutter of punk bands that are on the rise and continually re-invent itself to capture more than just a small portion of the teen market.

If not, Paramore could just be a passing phase that will soon fade away into the category of bands that fall by the wayside. Simply put, the “could-haves”.

UrbanWire rates Riot! 3/5