10 Greatest Pop Punk Bands Of All Time
4. Paramore
When it comes to pop punk vocals, being a virtuoso is not really a #1 priority. No matter how many people may claim to have a great voice, most acts just need a whiny singer out front to get the job done 90% of the time. Then again, most other pop punk acts can't hold a candle to the chops that Paramore have.
At the same time, it may be difficult even qualifying Paramore as a pop punk act, considering how many steps they have taken to distance themselves from the genre. While making some aggro records in the beginning, Hayley Williams and co. have carved out a much more pop-friendly sound on albums like After Laughter, all while keeping the same amount of solid instrumentation to back them up. Across their early work like Riot!, songs like Misery Business and That's What You Get became anthems for the second wave of pop punk, with Williams' amazing range carrying most of the tunes.
Even when they first started to dip their toes into poppier fare on Brand New Eyes, Williams' raw vocals were what helped carry them over, being able to go from a typical pop softness to some of the harsher belting moments in the genre. No matter what twist and turn Paramore might go down in the future, most fans will never forget the raw pop punk band they got to know in the beginning.