Style Weekly
Richmond's alternative for news, arts, culture and opinion
Hot Shots at the Snowball
by Hilary Langford
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Mention the name Paramore and you'll likely see flickers of life behind the horn-rimmed eyes of even the most sullen emo kid. Among the Hot Topic set, the Franklin, Tenn., fivesome is royalty, with Tang-haired front woman Hayley Williams reigning as the high-style priestess of punk.
But don't write these rockers off as sugar-coated scenesters who will pass like American Apparel fashion. From the rickety side stages of the Warped Tour, Paramore has taken its Karen O-meets-Fall-Out-Boy sound straight to the top of the charts and fronted countless magazine covers. The band's second album, "Riot," recently went gold thanks in part to a rabid fan base, mad MTV love and the success of the underdog anthem "Misery Business."
The band is spending a chunk of the winter playing radio shows, joining fellow MTV favorites Silversun Pickups and Army of Me for Y101's holiday Snowball, rounding out one of the most solid lineups in town this year. Akin to an early Smashing Pumpkins with a self-proclaimed live sound that is "so loud and big," the Los Angeles-based Silversun Pickups were recently nominated as Best Emerging Artist at the mtvU Woodie Awards and tapped as the network's "Artists of the Week." The Pickups wield shy melodies with chops of shiny guitar steel and crank out hits such as the stellar "Lazy Eye." So it's no surprise the accolades are beginning to pile up.
The same can be said for the Washington, D.C., indie outfit Army of Me, whose single "Going Through Changes" landed on the playlists of the country's most influential stations and led to it being dubbed "Best Unsigned Band" by Alternative Press magazine.
So yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he's made an early delivery right in your own backyard. S
Paramore, Silversun Pickups and Army of Me play Y101's Snowball at Toad's Place Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18.50-$23. Call 648-TOAD or visit www.toadsplacerva.com.
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