Paramore
Brand New Eyes

Cut to the Chase: Tennessee quintet Paramore may look like the sort of sharp-fringed emos you'd cross the street to avoid, but their third album, produced by Green Day knob-twiddler Rob Cavallo, is a largely agreeable affair. Features the song 'Decode' from the 'Twilight' soundtrack.

To the uninitiated, Paramore may seem like a distressing prospect. Take a look at lead singer Hayley Williams, for starters; there's a hint of rrriot grrrl about the 20-year-old, she's a fireball of energy on stage, and she undoubtedly knows how to belt out the tunes. Then there's the 'emo' tag that the Tennessee quintet have been landed with over the past few years. Distressing, perhaps. Some would even say scary.

Yet you needn't feel so perturbed; if the barely-out-of-their-teens Paramore were guilty of launching aural assaults about acne and boy trouble in their early days, it sounds like they've ironed out the creases and grown up for album number three. Steered by the hand of Green Day producer Rob Cavallo, 'Brand New Eyes' may not be a 'complete' album, but it's certainly a well-realised one.

And sure, some of Williams's lyrics are a tad platitudinous, and the tone remains largely unvaried throughout these 12 tracks, bar the tempo - but with no-nonsense guitar riffs that roar into life ('Careful', 'Brick by Boring Brick') as well as unexpected acoustic-based numbers (several of which are, admittedly, overtly drab) and radio-friendly tunes that'd make Avril Lavigne pull each of her pristine blonde hairs out one-by-one ('The Only Exception', 'Feeling Sorry'), there's a definite sense that Paramore have matured. It's not quite good enough to win over the fence-sitters, but it's not bad enough to get annoyed about, either.

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