Entertainment

Falling in love with Paramore

Albums of the Week

Paramore

“Paramore”

★★★

EVEN after almost 10 years, there are those who dismiss Paramore as generic fodder for histrionic mall-punks — but their hugely impressive fourth album makes that assessment harder to justify. She may be a glamour puss in her own right now, but front woman Hayley Williams has worked in conjunction with her two bandmates to make this self-titled effort impressively broad in scope; jagged art-rock (“Now”) sits next to unexpected moments of ’80s R&B bounce (“Ain’t It Fun”), and there’s even time for a Fleetwood Mac-flavored ballad (“Hate To See Your Heart Break”).

The adolescent drama hasn’t completely been excised, but Paramore have become so adept at packaging it inside stadium-size choruses that you barely notice Williams’ occasionally overwrought lyrics. It really is time to take them seriously.

Brad Paisley

“Wheelhouse”

★ 1/2

“I can’t see this world unless I go outside my Southern comfort zone,” chirps Brad Paisley on the opening track of his ninth album. It’s an open-minded sentiment that the country star certainly tries to make good on during “Wheelhouse,” if only through the wide-ranging guest appearances. They include LL Cool J, who adds a hammy rap to the thoughtful ballad “Accidental Racist,” and Monty Python’s Eric Idle, who serves as an unlikely duet partner on the mildly amusing interlude “Death of a Married Man.”

But despite Paisley’s attempts to branch out both lyrically and musically, there’s no getting away from the fact that much of the album still twangs with the standardized sound of so much contemporary country music. He might be trying to break out of his Southern comfort zone, but “Wheelhouse” still sounds disappointingly cozy.

Downloads of the Week

The Knife

“Full of Fire”

★★★ 1/2

THIS mysterious Swedish dance duo has returned with a baffling but frequently brilliant fourth album, “Shaking the Habitual,” on which this 10-minute opus takes center stage. A sinister collage of swelling noise set to a creeping beat, “Full of Fire” is like a horror soundtrack brilliantly reimagined for the dance floor.

Molly Ringwald

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)”

IT really doesn’t matter how genuine her love of jazz vocalists is, because Molly Ringwald’s new standards album, “Except Sometimes,” will only be noted for this cover of Simple Minds’ “Breakfast Club” theme. It’s sung poorly and arranged with all the flair of a band playing in the bar of a dive hotel on a Tuesday night. But for the generation weaned on John Hughes, it will raise a smile if nothing else.

James Blake

“Take a Fall for Me”

★★ 1/2

BLAKE’S second album, “Overgrown,” finds the neo-soul singer in a typically sedate mood. But there are moments of comparative light that break through the nocturnal feel — such as this jazzy cut, which features Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA contributing a remarkably tender rap. Who knew he was such a softy at heart?

Dawes

“From a Window Seat”

★★

THE spirit of Laurel Canyon is alive and well on Dawes’ third album, “Stories Don’t End.” While the LA outfit’s take on classic rock is impeccably observed, the huge debt “From a Window Seat” owes to the likes of Jackson Browne and the Eagles means that Dawes still sound like they’re searching for their own identity.