HERE’S what literally went through my mind when I first listened to this album.

“Hey, she sounds a lot like Avril Lavigne.”

“Ooh, that bridge reminds me of Jimmy Eat World.”

“Hmm, that bit sounds like something My Chemical Romance would do.”

“Er, haven’t I heard that chorus in a Fall Out Boy song before?”

“Eh, that sounds like a Hoobastank song sung by a girl.”

Yes, Paramore is the sort of band who sounds pretty much like any other band. In fact, their music could well have been mistaken as just another emo band like Hoobastank or Simple Plan, but for the fact that their lead singer is a girl.

It also doesn’t help that this third album isn’t really that different from their first two – 2005’s All We Know is Falling and 2007’s Riot! (which went platinum in the United States, and featured their biggest hit to date, Misery Business).

The band, comprising vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarists Josh Farro and Taylor York, bassist Jeremy Davis and drummer Zac Farro, probably decided while working on Brand New Eyes to copy the very formula that served them so well on Riot!.

Nevertheless, Brand New Eyes is not a bad album. There are some pretty good songs here, most notably the first four – Careful, Ignorance, Playing God and Brick by Boring Brick. All four would have been rather average emo rock songs but for some startling flashes of melodic brilliance. It would seem like they picked up a few tricks during their touring stint with emo rock pioneers Jimmy Eat World last year.

After that, though, things get a bit predictable unfortunately, as the band does little to venture out of its comfort zone. Even the slower numbers don’t work as well as they should, thanks to Williams’ vocals, which alternate between Avril Lavigne and a more angsty Feist. Some, like Feeling Sorry and Misguided Ghosts, are catchy enough to stick in your head for a while, but the rest are kind of average.

All in all, Brand New Eyes does not exactly break brand new ground. It’s a decent album with some sparks and some hints of greater potential. It’s just too bad that it isn’t a terribly original one.