Paramore
All We Know Is Falling
(Fueled By Ramen)

They’ve slipped under the Nashville radar, but Franklin, TN’s Paramore may be better off for it. By dodging the critical eye of the Nashville scene, the young band may have managed to develop their sound without the input of a thousand cross-armed hipsters. Their debut album on the well-known Fueled By Ramen label, All We Know Is Falling, shows a band sure of their ability and creativity.

The easiest reference point for their sound is the energetic emo of Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, Cruiserweight and the like. In fact with Hayley Williams’s powerful voice, Paramore is likely to draw more than few comparisons to the female-fronted Cruiserweight. Hayley, though, has more of a rock edge to her voice. Songs like “Brighter” and “Here We Go Again” demonstrate that Paramore can find their way around a pop hook better than many of their emo peers.

Paramore keeps their arrangements tight. Without overdubbing too many guitars, they keep the sound loud and crunchy yet accompany the power chords with tasteful melodies. At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, there are too many slow parts. With their great crunchy guitars and Williams’ tough voice, harder songs would suit them well.

[I wrote this review for the Rage but they killed it before publication because they were running another piece on the band.]