After all that “backing boy musicians are angry because female lead gets all the attention” drama that nearly split the group apart (a brush-up on No Doubt’s history should have really been a requisite project for these kids) and a detour into the dark and vampiry on the Evanescence-esque Twlight single “Decode”, how refreshing what is to hear Paramore kick off their upcoming junior set brand new eyes with “Ignorance”, a return to the irresistably peppy/ catchy pop-rock formula that made them the breakout act of 2007.
Yeah, it might not sport an immediately cherishable, greater-than-great hook of a “Misery Business” or “Crushcrushcrush”, but you can’t deny the sugary addictiveness of all it’s guitar thrash, heavy bass chug and rapid fire drum work nor the charismatic force known as Hayley Williams snarl-wailing her heart out atop it all.
Last week, the band entered the Live Lounge studios for a two-song live gig and, as they’ve proven with acoustic readings of a lot of their previous material, Paramore made “Ignorance” sound just as good, if not better. With the urgent intensity of the original’s thunderous rawk rage nicely re-imagined through some quickly-flitting acoustic guitar pickings and Williams commiting a more restrained vocal performance heightened by hoarsened peaks, the song manages to grasp an even stronger emotional wallop, as if the inter-band strife documented in the razor sharp lyrics is a currently festering issue rather than a tribulation of the past.
Catch the performances of both “Ignorance” and, yes, yet another amazing female-led cover of Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” below.
If it’s possible, try to get past Stockholm, Sweden-born newcomer Erik Hassle‘s attention-distracting resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite, so you can completely indulge yourself in the pop greatness that is his single, “Hurtful”.
Kin to The Fray/ OneRepublic brand of melodramatic pop/ rock (read: if it hasn’t already, it’ll be soundtracking some primetime TV scene soon enough), “Hurtful” documents one man’s tardy ownership of his part in a romance’s failing. “I used to laugh it off/ I used to look the other way”, Hassle admits of his behavior back then. But, as they say, “hindsight is 20/20″, and once he fully realizes his mistakes while cloaked in his current lonely state of being, a gush of apologies spew forth on an epic, clouds-parting hook: “I was wrong from the start, from the bottom of my heart/ I apologize/ What I did to you was hurtful/…What I’m going through is hurtful”.
After checking out the video/ track below (in addition to a fetching dance remix by Wildfunkerz), click on over to Hassle’s MySpace and become acquainted with two other fine-tuned gems: the mournful, piano-stroked “Is This The Thanks I Get” and the synth-powered (and brilliantly titled) “Don’t Bring Flowers After I’m Dead”.
Erik’s debut, Hassle, is due for a June Sweden release, but you can pre-order the import here.
Why Rooney’s brand of sunny indie rock and contagious classic pop hooks didn’t really catch on the first time around remains a mystery, but those who missed out before should jump aboard with the five piece Los Angeles band’s latest cheery rouser, “When Did Your Heart Go Missing”.
It’s opening seconds, a 1980′s-inflected slice of blue-eyed soul confection, instantly embeds a burst of “Walking On Sunshine”-type glee into your being. Itchy guitars, a slight Motown thump and an effervescent bed of keys take you back to a time when bubblegum acts like Culture Club, Wham! and The Cars ruled the waves and had White folks happily dancing “The Carlton” in oversized “Choose Life” white tees all around the world.
The first single from their second album, Calling The World, “When Did Your Heart Go Missing” re-quotes a classic relationship conundrum: when both partners just aren’t on the same wavelength anymore. Too enamoured within his dream to live the American dream as the perfect family with the big house and white picket fence, the lyrics’ male character is caught off guard when his love seems to no longer be as invested in living that life with him. “I don’t understand/ How could you forget what we had?/ It’s so wrong”, he sings over the track’s irresistible perkiness, perfectly ending the song in a spoken rant of confused woe.
A brisk modernization of such ’80′s classics like “Take On Me” and “Tainted Love”, “When Did Your Heart Go Missing” proves that Rooney has studied the blueprint well, constructing an arguably flawless, hooky number. Take notice now or continue to miss out on one of the indie treasures criminally under-the-radar!
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
After all that “backing boy musicians are angry because female lead gets all the attention” drama that nearly split the group apart (a brush-up on No Doubt’s history should have really been a requisite project for these kids) and a detour into the dark and vampiry on the Evanescence-esque Twlight single “Decode”, how refreshing what is to hear Paramore kick off their upcoming junior set brand new eyes with “Ignorance”, a return to the irresistably peppy/ catchy pop-rock formula that made them the breakout act of 2007.
If it’s possible, try to get past Stockholm, Sweden-born newcomer 
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