23ji no ongaku

I’m not used to writing about music sung in my native language. It feels both awkward and redundant: awkward because I’m just not used to being able to fully understand what I’m hearing, and redundant because there are a hell of a lot more blogs about English-language music than there are blogs about Japanese music. There’s a high chance that everything I say about an American band has been said before, probably even multiple times.

Furthermore… Paramore is a mainstream American band. I don’t normally write about mainstream groups or singers, and longtime unchained readers probably know that I really haven’t written anything about an American band before, either. I’ve mentioned things in passing, but not like this. The point is, this is a new experience for me. This is the first time I’m going  to write something like this, and I’m a little nervous. But I think it needs to be done.

So, here it is: I like Paramore. To be more accurate: Paramore is my favorite English language band.

This comes as a surprise to some. It even surprises me a little, I guess. Because I spend most of my time listening to relatively unpopular or obscure Japanese music, one might think that I also listen to relatively unknown bands that sing in other languages, too. Nope–not even close. I rarely, if ever, venture away from mainstream music in other languages. I think it’s just a matter of time and preference when it comes to that. It’s also probably because I am too damn busy with Japanese music to attempt American indie or something. I’m usually pretty satisfied with mainstream rock (although right now I don’t like much of what’s on the radio), so I just stick to that. If you were expecting this blog to introduce you to obscure bands that are not from Japan… sorry. I’ll fall a little short, there.

Anyway, Paramore. I remember how I found Paramore: Panic! At the Disco. I was on the Panic! Myspace one afternoon in 2007, saw something about a band on the same label with a female singer, and was almost instantly sold. (The phrase “female singer” is like the key to the lock on my heart, or something.) I listened to one song and immediately went out to buy their first album, All We Know Is Falling. I fell hard for the band before I knew what was happening. I was in the midst of my rediscovery of Hello! Project at this point, and Paramore basically shut out everything else for a couple weeks.

All We Know was followed by Riot!, which I bought on release day with no hesitation, grumbling a little bit because I missed the chance to buy the deluxe edition that came with a vinyl copy of the album and other assorted goodies. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I really don’t care too much for what critics have to say about it, because they couldn’t write lyrics this catchy if Hayley Williams herself stood over their shoulders and suggested what to say. There’s so much energy to this album. It’s also one of the very few releases where I enjoy every single track, and don’t skip anything on the CD (unless there’s something specific I want to hear).

Finally, Brand New Eyes was released last year. I got the shiny deluxe edition this time, and while the album surprised me at first, it’s grown on me significantly. I skip a lot of songs in it, but I don’t dislike them–they just get passed over in favor of others. This album also features a song that I literally cannot listen to without crying, which I’ll talk about again in a minute. That means my domination over Shimokawa Mikuni’s “Arekara” (a song that could always make me cry without fail) a couple months ago is pretty pointless now. Damnit.

Paramore sort of gets a bad rap, critically. I’ve read the highs and lows, when it comes to reviews of their music, and I know I’m biased because I’m a fan, but come on: it is not fair in the least to compare this band to Kelly f***ing Clarkson. If you can write the sentence “Paramore sounds like Kelly Clarkson” in an unsarcastic manner, and actually mean it, you need to get the hell out of the music industry. Or get hearing aids. Either/or, maybe both. Kelly Clarkson’s music doesn’t have the same pacing or heavy usage of guitar, and I’ve never heard Hayley Williams sincerely sing anything like “Because Of You.” Sure, they’re both honest young women, and their lyrics mean something, but they are completely different people, with different messages and experiences, and vastly different music. I guess they both have good vocal ranges? Whatever.

In the same vein, holy shit, I am so tired of Paramore becoming this standard to compare other groups to. The next time I see BECCA compared to Paramore, I’m going to cut somebody’s head off. In some situations, I understand it: groups like Hey Monday and Flyleaf also have lead female vocals, and rock styles. But as a fan, I can say that the comparisons really have to end there. Hey Monday’s lyrics are still sort of childish and don’t dig very deep, and I’ve yet to hear Flyleaf really get as emotional as Paramore (although, admittedly, Flyleaf is not a group I listen to regularly). There’s a certain raw honesty to Paramore that other groups just don’t match.

Yeah, they’re considered mainstream. So what? That doesn’t make them any worse (or better) than any other group out there. Unlike some of the bands on the radio right now, Paramore wasn’t shoved down my throat with repetitive airplay. Actually, past “Misery Business,” I really didn’t hear any Paramore on the radio. I’m sure this is largely because I was living in Oklahoma for a long time, and people out there would rather hear (cringe) Hinder or (BIG CRINGE) Nickleback on the radio, but still. There’s a reason “Born For This” says “we want the airwaves back.” They really haven’t been forced on the public. But yet we still love them. And if you don’t, eh, that’s not a big deal. People have differing tastes. But I still don’t think it’s fair to write them off as just another band, or compare them to primed and proper pop singers without really listening to what they’re actually doing.

With Brand New Eyes, I think we got to hear a lot of raw emotion come out of this group. I think part of the reason the album didn’t sit well with me at first was because it was emotionally intimidating. I mean, Riot! felt true and honest and all, but it just wasn’t so… raw. This album just feels very personal. And that’s probably why “All I Wanted” makes me cry, without fail, every single time I listen to it: because it’s personal.

I can’t say much else. What this song probably meant to Hayley, or the other members of the band, it means tenfold for me. This song, and their latest album, just cemented it for me: Paramore is my favorite band. My favorite band that sings in English, I mean. But now we’re just splitting hairs, and there’s no point in that. I love ‘em.