Paramore
“If I have to I’m gonna leave you behind,” Hayley Williams sings on “Grow Up,” from the first Paramore album since 2009. The singer has successfully powered through a very public, extremely not-nice split with the band’s co-founders, Josh and Zac Farro (she even got a Grammy nomination for her appearance on B.o.B’s 2010 single “Airplanes”). Paramore 2.0 maintain their signature post-emo pop-metal gusto (see the blazing “Be Alone”) and added a Stefani-Clarkson elasticity that at times make this feel like a solo debut – from the ukulele kiss-off “Interlude: Holiday” to the New Wave-y “Part II” to the soul-powered “Ain’t It Fun.” Williams rocks each new look like an I-will-survive warrior priestess.