‘This Is Why’ Paramore still works
Paramore playing a concert at the O2 in London.
March 2, 2023
With their new album “This Is Why,” Paramore defies the odds and delivers a daring and fresh collection of new songs.
While the album is quite good on its own merit, its mere existence is even more impressive considering the trajectory of some of their 2000s pop-punk contemporaries.
Fall Out Boy has been venturing further and further into sanitized Imagine Dragons-esque pop for over 10 years now. Similarly, Panic! At The Disco has spent the last part of the decade as a self-indulgent one-man-show. And Green Day’s most recent album “Father of All…” is by far one of the most critically-panned releases of recent memory.
As a result, “This Is Why” comes as a pleasant surprise.
The title track establishes a fascinating blend of influences. Its bassline resembles that of Talking Heads, while the drum beat and lead guitars in the chorus recall the pivotal protopunk group Television. The verses, on the other hand, bring to mind early Radiohead with their melancholy atmosphere.
The Television influence is present across the entirety of the album, especially on songs like “The News” and “C’est Comme Ça.” Their disjointed and sometimes dissonant lead guitar parts give the album a distinct post-punk sound without ever sounding dated.
The album generally lacks the driving, emotional melodies of the band’s earlier hits like “Misery Business” and poppy ballads like “The Only Exception.” However, Paramore’s exploration and fusion of a wide variety of genres on one cohesive album more than makes up for it.
“This Is Why” is the sound of a band that still has something new to say. The album pays no mind to current trends in pop music, instead providing a unique and engaging listening experience from start to finish.
Long-time Paramore fans who grew up with the band’s music may be disappointed, at least at first. There are very few traces of their early work present here, but this only serves to strengthen the album’s integrity. With “This Is Why,” Paramore makes it explicitly clear that they have no intention of becoming a nostalgia act.
