Pop-punk will never save the world. Pop-punk won't ever save music, we all know that. These types of bands are a dime-a-dozen. Every day a label signs a band that everyone says will become "the next New Found Glory." Paramore might not ever become the biggest pop-punk band in the world, but that's not to say they don't do anything to make themselves stand out.
Riot! opens up wide right from the start with "For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic." The opening riff in this song is great, and reminds me of a specific band, though I fail to realize who it is. The song is supported with really strong riffs, and the only thing rivaling that is vocalist Hayley Williams' standout voice. At such a young age, (Williams is a fresh-faced 18 years old) she possesses a voice with more strength behind it than some women ten years her senior. "Misery Business" and "Miracle" once again show off the band's knack for writing killer riffs set to a solid backbeat courtesy of the bands rock solid rhythm section.
Not without it's ballads, Riot! does give itself a chance to breathe and slow down. "We are Broken" could pass itself off for a Kelly Clarkson song, and I don't mean that in a bad way, whatsoever. It's a song with a lot of feeling to it; it doesn't feel forced or tacked on just for the sake of having a ballad. "When it Rains" and "Let the Flames Begin" are two other tracks that take the tempo down a little bit. While the former does seem a bit awkward, "Let the Flames Begin" starts off slow to a building crescendo, pulling off a really effective, powerful song.
Riot! doesn't get off so easy though. My main gripe with this record is in its simplicity. Now, I'm all for bands getting crazy technical, but I can just as well appreciate it when a band strips everything down to the basics and just writes a simple, straight forward song. The problem here is, on a lot of these songs, Paramore sound like they are simply dumbing themselves down to appeal to everyone. Some of the faster, pop-punk songs feel like they're lacking something, more so in the aspect of the drums than anywhere else. While the guitar work has interesting nuances throughout, the drums simply drone on and keep the songs going. There are no interesting fills to be found anywhere in here. It's not a major setback for the record, however this is something I'd love to see the band focus on. It could make for some interesting tracks in the future.
