Entertainment
Email
Print
Spins
Paramore: Brand new eyes
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 15, 2009
Updated: 10/14/2009 04:55 pm
Paramore
brand new eyes
Label: Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic
If you like: Vintage Gwen Stefani
Song to download: "Looking Up"
½ (out of four)
Grammy-nominated upstarts Paramore have been labeled everything from punk to emo since their breakout 2007 disc Riot.
Labels seem to miss the point entirely with Paramore. They just make good music -- and their third effort, brand new eyes, is another burst of youthful energy and infectious to the core.
Lead singer Haley Williams -- a mere 20 years old -- has a Gwen Stefani-like charisma, and she carries the band by being everything Kelly Clarkson is trying to be and Stefani used to be. And she can sing, too.
Josh Farro (guitar/vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Jeremy Davis (bass) and Taylor York (guitar) play with reckless energy and set a great tone for Williams' sassy lyrics.
The disc opens on a nice 1-2 punch with "Careful," where Williams shouts "The truth never set me free/So I did it myself," and lead single "Ignorance," which is already climbing the charts.
Soaring tracks dominate here, including a crowd-ready "Brick by Boring Brick" and the unapologetic fist-pumpers "Feeling Sorry" and "Where The Lines Overlap."
But it's the lighter moments that showcase Paramore's emerging diversity. "Playing God" is a dose of pop-rock bliss, and the acoustic ballads "Exception" and "Misguided Ghosts" prove that Williams can do a lot more than simply wail.
On the aptly titled rocker "Looking Up," Williams proclaims "We're just getting started" With a record this fun, here's to hoping she's not kidding.
Bob Schneider
Lovely Creatures
Label: Kirtland
If you like: New folk music
Song to download: "Changing Your Mind"
½
As Bob Schneider sings about love, there are references to Romeo, Juliet, the moon, moonbeams, the Osmonds and the Wizard of Oz. That's when the words aren't rushing past too quickly to absorb. Electric keyboards and a vibraphone shimmer above hummable bass lines, guitars provide crunchy counterpoint and there's vocal sweetener with "ooohs," "aaahs," "oh-uhs" and even an ecstatic "hoo-hoo."
That's just the first three songs. Lovely Creatures is how Schneider regards the album's 12 tunes, and the description is often apt.
It's the most polished, studio-centric collection yet from the Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter, and some may prefer their Schneider with less sheen. The second half gets a little frothy, and there's a jarring change of mood when Schneider taps his inner Roberto on three Latin-style tunes, two of them dance numbers from his live shows.
But the best of the material exudes an embracing warmth. The melodies are memorable, the beats bouncy, the hooks plentiful. In other words -- lovely.
Fred Hammond
Love Unstoppable
Label: Verity
If you like: Jazzy gospel
Song to download: "Lost in You Again"
Just when you think Hammond has fully mined his expressions of love for God, he comes out with another album full of treasures.
On Love Unstoppable, Hammond's high-ringing tenor, circuitous phrasing and jazzy chord changes are applied to joyous, up-tempo praise tunes, and the intimate, slow-burning worship songs that his listeners have come to appreciate in his nearly 30 years in the industry.
Thematically, the album could be a "Vol. 2" to Somethin' 'Bout Love released in 2004. "Awesome God" is a funky send-up that sets the tone, and the gentle refrains of "You're Good" show Hammond cozily in worship leader mode.
On "Lost in You Again," Hammond again welcomes us into the intimacy of his private prayers. The song's slightly off-kilter rhythms make it sound like a serenade.
Gossip
Music for Men
Label: Columbia
If you like: Melissa Ethridge, Chaka Khan
Song to download: "Dimestore Diamond"
For any rebellious gal who's slashed her hair and skirts short and not cared, Gossip's "Dimestore Diamond" is nothing short of an anthem. On it, Beth Ditto's Southern twang echoes over a killer bass line.
It's the best song on Music for Men, the trio's newest album, which diverges from the band's usual bluesy garage rock to beat-centric dance tunes sleekly produced by Grammy winner Rick Rubin.
Longtime Gossip fans may miss the group's older sound -- fabulously messy and DIY between Ditto's growl and guitarist Brace Paine's stompy punk-blues lines -- but those open to the band's new direction will be rewarded.
Although some songs coast a little too much on synth bleeps and club beats, tunes such as "Heavy Cross," "Men in Love" and "Vertical Rhythm" are pure catchiness, infused with personal-political sentiment and staccato riffs.
Ditto, known as much for her plus-size fashion savvy as her booming voice, has the kind of presence that can cross boundaries. On Music for Men, she channels Gloria Gaynor and Chaka Khan just as much as punk muses.
Email
Print
