ALBUM REVIEW: Paramore - This Is Why

    Back in my pre-teen days, I was pretty into the pop-punk and "emo" scene, as I'm sure most people were in their embarrassing phase - indeed, bands like Twenty One Pilots, Panic! at the Disco, and Green Day haunt my memories (even if the latter ain't too bad), but Paramore was always a group that I passed over, and by the time I heard about them I was deep into my first Beatles phase and the accompanying close-minded belief that "all modern music is crap!" that I have since learned to be complete bullshit. Paramore does seem to be one of the more respected bands from that genre, though, probably in part because of their musical evolution and continuously evolving style - their 2017 album After Laughing was a deep dive into the sounds of new wave and dance music. This Is Why is yet another genre change-up for Paramore, this time focusing on heavy influence from post-punk revival of the late 90s and early 2000s. The results speak for themselves with this album, which is filled with energetic performances, driving rhythms, and some excellent performances throughout. Because of my lack of familiarity with Paramore, I can't make the claim that this is their best album, but I can certainly claim that this is a damn good album.

    By far the strongest thing going for This Is Why is the performances, because Paramore is on fire throughout this entire album - Taylor York's powerful and gritty riffs, Zac Farro's punching drums that are the life-force of much of the album, and Hayley Williams' great and varied vocals. She can do far more than the anthemic punk on cuts like the immediately gratifying title track or the anger of "The News", but she's able to excellently pull off slower moments like the dreamy "Liar" in the album's latter half. These moments also showcase the varied sounds and production of This Is Why, which is more than willing to bounce around from moment to moment for the sake of the album - tinges of new-wave on the awesome "Running Out of Time", which makes for the second awesome song of the year with that name. Flavors of slowcore, indie rock, and art rock all work their way in throughout the album in just enough doses to provide plenty of flavor throughout while keeping true to the incredibly energy and grooves of the album that will certainly have you singing along and tapping your foot by the end of the album.

    This Is Why is also pretty chalked full of poignant lyricism throughout. "The News" is a riot against the seemingly never-ending flow of depressing events and horrible anecdotes that unfolds on the news - our collective hearts breaking and heads shaking indeed. "Big Man, Little Dignity" suffers from having a hook that isn't quite as strong, but has great lyrics and theming about men who are never held accountable for their actions. "C'est Comme Ça", while being the weakest song on the album, has a relatable theme of "it is what it is," and accepting that not everything can be perfect. Other moments like the reflection on nostalgia on the penultimate "Crave" or the reflection of toxic relationship on "Figure 8" are also well-executed, and compliment the dreamy atmosphere of the former and the peculiar and aggressive rhythm of the latter. It's very lyrically assured of itself throughout, almost as much as the album.

    I may have passed over Paramore in the past, but after This Is Why they have my attention. The fruits of their labor on this album is heavy and palpable grooves, aggressive instrumentation, great performances, and some quality songwriting throughout that has its fair share of great and poignant lyrical themes. This is Why is yet another great album to come out of the year, and it may be on regular rotation for quite some time. This Is Why gives you its energy, and it keeps on coming back every single time.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to This Is Why.