Paramore share enthusiastic cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’
At the start of the year, there were some misplaced rumours flying around that Paramore might be parting ways, but as they share their take on Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’, the band say ‘sit down and shut up’ as they return with full energy.
Throughout their evolution, Paramore have developed from the angsty pop punk band of their youth into a fun and multifaceted beast. Through navigating many lineup changes and brief hiatuses to do solo projects, they have only become a tighter unit with a more interesting scope. Their latest record, This Is Why, was a tour de force of who they are now; bottling the energy of their early days but applying it more masterfully to a range of pop to rock to indie sounds.
They have an indefinable quality about them, much like Talking Heads. Yet, what comes through most on their cover of the classic track is exactly the same outright fun that fuels the original.
Released as part of a wider project by A24 to continue to celebrate the re-release of the Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, the cover has the energy of a karaoke party in the best way. It’s a tribute track at its finest as Paramore make no effort to rewrite history or change up what is already a perfect track. Instead, it’s simply one of the best bands working currently doing a straight cover of one of the best bands in history.
From Hayley Williams’ lively vocals as she navigates the wordy track with power and enthusiasm through to Zac Farro’s full-energy, pounding take on Chris Frantz’s drumline, every part of the cover is handled with an audible sense of gusto.
Even though the track is polished to perfection, it contains that joyful spirit of a band in their rehearsal room messing around with a cover to loosen themselves up a bit. In the way that ‘Burning Down The House’ remains an enduring hit that millions of us know off by heart, the band treat the track with the same effortless respect of a favourite song.
Just as captivating as the original with all the same joy and excitement, Paramore more than do Talking Heads justice on this reminder of the brilliance of ‘Burning Down The House’.
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