Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

The buzz word on Paramore's latest offering Brand New Eyes is "maturity" and it's an apt choice. It's not as many have suggest the creative awakening of Paramore, this is not a mature offering, but maturity is the main occupation of this LP. Brand New Eyes sees a band desperately trying to evolve, mature, sound older, wiser and more serious, unfortunately for Hayley Williams and co, maturity isn't a concept, it's a state that has to be attained naturely. Brand New Eyes sees Paramore in a confused state, and in many ways its immature, it's the sound of a band trying to be bold but being too scared and too ill prepared to pull it off. It's a noble effort on their part, they want to change, they want to grow, they want to be more than just those fun little punk rockers, but unfortunately they find out you can't force evolution, it has to occur naturally. The question at hand is; is Brand New Eyes a success and are Paramore headed in the right direction?

Well unfortunately Brand New Eyes offers nothing but mixed signals. Album opener Careful is a good example, it's starts interestingly enough and has a darker edge but ultimately it's the same bouncy slamming power chords. Hayley seems to be struggling to translate her lyrically intent into vocal delivery, and this becomes a theme across the album, she delivers some interesting lyrical couplets "The Truth Never Set Me Free, So I'll Do It Myself" and "Hope For Me Was A Place Uncharted, And Over Grown", unfortunately she delivers these lines in her cheeky punk voice and the sentiment feels hallow, the sound of a girl trying far too hard to sound vital. To worsen matters she's drops between a punchy chorus and horrid operatic wailing. Luckily the sleek down tuned bass combined with a more interesting than usual arrangement and some sharp guitar work, makes Careful one of the albums better tracks. It's about half way there, this sounds like a band on the right track, Hayley simply needs to embrace one direction and explore it thoroughly. As is Careful is in the half way house stuck between an intriguing work and a catchy singalong and not quite satisfying fully in either direction.

On the other hand Looking Up shows no signs of improvement, it's positively vapid. It's packed with bouncy bass, up beat lyrics and spunky punky guitars....*yawn*. Paramore's nearly broke up a year ago and many hoped it would leave to some more interesting emotive subject matter for song writing, instead we're treated to this sugary uplifting tripe. Most disappointingly there's a line about half way where Hayley sings "God Knows The World Doesn't Need Another Band, Wah Oh Ha Ho" and for a second there a ray of light appeared, I thought Looking Up was simply a knowing parody, a shot at the Paramore of old and soft rock in general. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed the Wah Ha Ho Ohs were not ironic, they were actually the hidden hook to the second half of the track, it's enough to make one vomit. So just to clarify the message Hayley Williams is trying to send is: The last thing the world needs is another bland crap rock band, but hell they believe in each other so there gonna continue to make bland pop rock to amuse themselves? Well at least there honest and it's not half as bad as Where The Lines Overlap another hideous bland number where Hayley proclaims "No One Is As Lucky As Us" and tells us if she believes it we'll all sing the words back to her. The track is so morose it can't help but become a Paramore classic.

The albums undisputed low point comes in the form of The Only Exception it see's Paramore in full serious ballad mode. It's start off quite solemnly, with Hayley playing the detached rocker chick crooning "I Promised I'd Never Sing Of Love If It Does Not Exist" before bursting into "Darling You Are The Only Execption". The track lacks any earnestness let alone charm, it feels like it's bending over backwards and begging for MTV to use it on an episode of The Hills. I can already picture this track in the middle of some horrid teen rom com, with the broken hearted teen looking tearfully into the distance while leaning against a window pane on a rainy day. Speaking of insufferable dirges the operatic abortion known as Decode has been slapped on to the end of Brand New Eyes, yes as if they really need to grind anymore money out of the flacid Twilight soundtrack.

In comparision Ignorance is far more business as usual, and my god it's refreshing. It's the cookie cutter spunky pop single that you feel Hayley could write in her sleep, it's completely irrelevant but it's a much need irresistible dose of fast paced fun. In many ways listening to Ignorance and Brand New Eyes as a whole you feel like Paramore aren't ready to evolve, this is clearly where Hayley is most comfortable, playing the Riot Girrrl it may not be what she wants to hear but some one has to tell her. Playing God is another example of the a half way house single, it's got all the poppy hooks and Wahooos that'd you expect but it has more edge, the pre chorus "Next Time You Point A Finger, I Might Have To Bend Back And Brake It Brake It Off" is a real thrill. Unfortunately this darker intent is delivered in cheeky spunky Hayley mode and it contradicts the subject matter unsatisfying way. The sugary guitars don't help much either. You really feel they've missed an opportunity to darken and harden their sound and bring a must needed visercal element to proceedings. That said Playing God is a solid dependable effort. Equally Brick By Boring Brick is frenetic fun but instantly forgettable.

Then of course in the quest for maturity as if written in some lost document of musically law a band must master the ballad. Paramore duly tackle the moody ballad with luster, Misguided Ghosts while rather pedestrian is a really good attempt, the softly plucked accoustic guitar is a nice touch and it's probably the only "mature" track where Hayley actually judges the mood of the track correctly. That said, the track is overly formulaic and sounds remarkably indebted but for a band who are trying to expand there palette this is a good place to start. I do worry that a large portion of there fan base won't have the patience for a track of this sort. Unfortunately on the flip side of the coin is All I Wanted, it's your standard droning rock ballad powered by the bluster of unimaginative chord slamming. It has some interesting elements Hayley does actually take a pot shot at her own immaturity but it feels like a pastiche of a moody rock ballad, rather than anything genuinely thrilling.

Brand New Eyes is a struggle, it's by no means a complete failure, it's just confused, forced and charmless. The overriding feeling is that Paramore have said to themselves "okay it's time for the third album, we must mature, get more serious and evolve". The problem is this is not how you evolve, it has to be a natural process you have to experiment, redefine and expand your sound. Instead Paramore have decided to look into the big book of rock and roll clichés and decided to borrow the clothes of other more mature bands without understanding why it is that these sounds work for those bands. There are signs of potential, here and there, especially form the band themselves, where they play around with arrangements and song structure with some interesting results but they are too few and too far between. Ultimately as shown by lead of single Ignorance Hayley still seems most comfortable as the riot girrl, she makes good spunky pop music and she shouldn't be ashamed of this fact, if she wants her music to say more, they need to take some time off, experiment and broaden their horizons and see what happens, they simply can't force it. Pushing out in all directions and borrowing other bands clothes will achieve little, before they can grow Paramore have to come to terms with who they really are as a band. Ultimately by desperately trying to mature, Paramore have actually highlighted just how immature they really are.