The first five months of the 2017 musical year has mimicked the unpredictability and insanity of the real world. Calvin Harris has suddenly morphed into R&B's most reliable, innovative hitmaker. Kendrick Lamar proved his mortality by releasing a generic album. Justin Bieber landed a prominent guest spot on a hit Spanish-language pop song. If you had told me any of this wild shit was going to happen six months ago, I would've assumed you were a methhead with a rich imagination. Paramore is the latest act to throw a curveball in this chaotic year by ditching their angst-filled brand of power pop/punk for 80's-inspired new wave and while there are some notable bumps along the way, it's an unexpected change in direction that mostly works.
What Carley Rae Jepsen was able to do with vintage synthpop on Emotion, Paramore does for new wave with After Laughter. This record is a passionate revival of a long-dead musical movement that pays tribute to the genre's pioneers without ever sounding like a direct rip-off. The palatable love and respect Paramore has for the new wave/alternative dance scene goes a long way in helping this pretty drastic shift in musical direction go as smoothly as possible.
Any doubt of Paramore's ability to embrace their inner Duran Duran is quickly shattered with the triumphant trio of tracks ("Hard Times", "Rose-Colored Boy", "Told You So") that kicks off After Laughter. The massive, goofy synths and bouncy guitarwork serve as PED's for Haley Williams' bubbly vocals, and help create a vibe that is so irresistibly upbeat that even a soulless, 80's-hating prick like myself couldn't help but smile. The rest of the record mostly fails to match the magic of the opening tracks, but tracks like "Caught in the Middle" and "Idle Worship" still manage to produce the type of sugary earworms that burrow into your brain for weeks at a time. Fans of the more melancholy material found on their beloved 2009 album Brand New Eyes might be disappointed with this record's over-the-top embrace of all things warm and vibrant, but I really appreciated this record's unrelenting positive energy and authentic vintage sound.
As good as the uptempo songs are, After Laughter loses its way when it heads into obligatory ballad territory. The slow songs consistently arrive at inopportune times and successful kill the momentum built up by their breezier counterparts. "Forgiveness" throws water all over the aforementioned three-track party that opens the record while the even duller "26" and "Pool" act as tire-popping speed bumps in the middle of the record. Not even Williams' consistently serviceable vocal performances can save these cluster of tracks from being tone-killing duds. Paramore has crafted some excellent slower tunes in the past ("Decode", "Part II"), but the ones on After Laughter are consistently forgettable and wildly out-of-place given the brisk tone of the rest of the record.
After Laughter is a well-crafted, engaging return to form for Paramore following their middling 2013 self-titled record. Given the lack of memorable hooks and melodies that plagued their last record, I fully expected the 2010 departure of founding guitarist/primary songwriter Josh Farro to be a crippling blow that the band wouldn't be able to recover from, but this record proves that Williams and longtime guitarist Taylor York are risk-takers that have the creative juice to keep this band afloat for years to come. While the flat ballads and my sketchy relationship with the new wave genre prevented me from loving this record, After Laughter is a fun, creative 42-minutes of music that I respect the hell out of.
3/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Rose-Colored Boy
2.Hard Times
3.Caught in the Middle
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