Music Review: Paramore, “After Laughter”

Music Review: Paramore, “After Laughter”

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If there’s any early 00’s pop punk band that has survived well into the next decade, it’s Paramore. While similar acts like Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, and Panic! at the Disco have largely faded into memory along with studded belts and skinny ties worn over graphic tees, Paramore has steadily built an empire of solid music and adoring fans. And that’s largely thanks to the lightning bolt of talent that is Paramore lead singer, Hayley Williams. (With her electrifying star quality, she could sing and dance her way through the dictionary and still sell out stadium tours.) Williams was just 14 when the band formed back in ‘04, and, for over a decade, she has grown-up alongside her fans – from a plucky, suburban emo kid to that cool, fun, mysterious girl you meet at a party who deleted her Facebook account, like, six years ago. Paramore was playing on the radio as their fans navigated through high school, went to college and eventually found jobs (or more likely, a slew of unpaid internships). Williams has also made herself more relevant since the pop punk craze died down by lending her vocal talent to numerous modern artists, such as when she teamed up with Chvrches (who [Fun Fact] I once ran into at an Urban Outfitters in Georgetown) on their track “Bury It.” Although Paramore’s style hasn’t changed as drastically over the years as, say, the cut and color of Williams’ hair, much less “early aughts angst” fills their albums these days. On “After Laughter,” the first album after the band’s three-year hiatus, the lyrics are still punk, but the pop is much poppier. On lead single “Hard Times,” try not to crack a smile at the playful 80’s vibe or Williams dancing, even though the lyrics she’s belting are about her own struggle with depression the previous year. The album isn’t perfect: it certainly has it’s highs (check out the video for “Told You So” with it’s serious Wes Anderson vibe) and lows (“26,” “No Friend,”) but that’s to be expected from a band of this generation, struggling to come to terms with adulthood and all it’s bumps along the way. Paramore proves that coming to terms with yourself during life’s first big challenges isn’t easy – especially if you’re the type who sits at work reminiscing about your teenage years when you’d ditch homeroom and chill with your clique at the skatepark – but we all make it through, somehow.

 

Music Review: Feist, “Pleasure”

Music Review: Feist, “Pleasure”

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Canadian singer-songwriter and indie music darling, Feist, is back with her latest studio album, “Pleasure.” Best known for that upbeat ditty you couldn’t get out of your head back in 2007 (which was featured in an iPod Nano commercial), Feist could’ve been a one-hit wonder. Fortunately for her, “The Reminder,” the album that featured her smash-hit “1234,” was actually really, really good. So when listeners got sick of every variation or parody of “1234,” from late night TV skits to children’s educational programming, there was plenty of good music for fans to fall back on. That was 10 years ago. Now, Feist has released her fifth studio album. And although no mega-tech corporations have featured her music in their ads for over a decade, she’s doing just fine. “Pleasure,” Feist’s latest LP, is a bit more rock and roll than her previous work, but still delivers as a solid addition to the Feist canon. Feist’s tone and lyrics have gotten harder as she’s gotten older, and this new-found edge is an unexpected, welcome change. “I’m Not Running Away,” is the best example of Feist’s classic, easy, textured jazz style, while the album’s title track and a song titled “Century” carry out the most overtly rock and roll tones. You may not hear her music every time you turn on the TV like in ‘07, but this latest Feist album has proven, once again, that she’s not fading into obscurity anytime soon.

  

Music Review: Kendrick Lamar, “DAMN.”

Music Review: Kendrick Lamar, “DAMN.”

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DAMN. Kendrick Lamar dropped one of the most influential rap albums of this decade on Good Friday. The celebrated rapper, whose 2015 “To Pimp a Butterfly” won him a Grammy for “Best Rap Album” takes an introspective turn this time around, focusing on our most basic, primal elements, with song titles like: “BLOOD,” “DNA,” “PRIDE,” “LUST,” “FEAR,” and “GOD.” On DAMN. Lamar proves he is not only the most talented rapper around, but a masterful storyteller to boot. Lamar isn’t propagating old narratives, but rather, he weaves the building blocks of his life through breathless raps and unrelenting rhymes. Directly addressing those who criticized his lyrics on police brutality on To Pimp a Butterfly’s, “Alright,” Lamar digs down deep (“DNA”), exposing the contents of his history, as well as those of his haters. His talent in storytelling culminates in “DUCKWORTH,” the album’s mind-boggling closing track, and a story that’s stranger than fiction. Kendrick captivatingly sews together two strangers’ lives, leading up to a confrontation that could have ended in his father’s death at the hands of the future rapper’s producer. The album ends where it begins with “BLOOD” – the life Lamar would have led if his father was killed and his mentor incarcerated – as another victim of senseless gun violence.