Emo can be a gross mix of self-absorption and media savvy. Which is what makes the naiveté of these tortured Tennesseans so likable. On 2007's platinum Riot!, they seemed to behaving actual fun playing their sharp, sheer mall punk. Produced by Rob Cavallo, the follow-up has a whiff of Important Rock Statement: Singer Hayley Williams blazes TV preachers, does some career-oriented stock-taking ("Looking Up") and even tries an acoustic ballad. But someof the sweeping moments blunt the band's fresh-faced immediacy —as if the cute kids from the sticks have had a hard time turning pro.

“Tonight's the Night”

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."