Canadian pop punk princess Avril Lavigne’s latest album, Love Sux, explores the classic heartbreak journey through 12 powerful tracks. With booming, drum-riddled songs reminiscent of her classic early 2000s hits “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated,” Lavigne proves she’s not shying away from the genre that paved her way into the industry any time soon.
The opening track, “Cannonball,” is an explosion of instrumentals and vocals. Lavigne plays with tempo changes, intense percussion and strings that are nearly impossible not to headbang to. Vocally, Lavigne sounds impeccable and her voice carries the same teen angst sound it’s held since she rose to fame at 16 years old. It’s incredibly catchy and hooked me immediately—an excellent choice for the first song of the album.
Though the album is mostly solo, three of the songs have features with Machine Gun Kelly, blackbear and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus. These tracks weren’t my personal favourites, however, they were still relatively strong if we consider Lavigne’s contributions. “Bois Lie (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)” is fun to listen to, but the pair’s voices don’t blend together. Lavigne’s voice is quite distinct and appears difficult to melt seamlessly into Kelly’s. This same issue is prominent in both “Love It When You Hate Me (feat. blackbear)” and “All I Wanted (feat. Mark Hoppus).” While it’s possible for a male artist to collaborate successfully with Lavigne, I believe a better suited vocalist would have been someone like Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. A deeper voice with the same jagged edge as Lavigne’s would have been spectacular, but it just fell flat with these features.
One other downfall to Lavigne’s seventh album is the similarity of many of the songs. This is relatively common for the pop punk genre, though maybe I am jaded by the electronically made pop I typically listen to. There are two standout ballads on Love Sux: “Avalanche” and “Dare To Love Me,” which sound incredibly unique compared to the rest of the album. The latter is especially stunning and shows listeners a more vulnerable, soft side of Lavigne, as opposed to the angry and frustrated side of her many have grown to love. It reminds me of old tracks like “I’m With You” from her debut studio album, Let Go. Love Sux would have greatly benefitted from including a ballad or two more. This would have balanced out the album and prevented the repetitive sound Lavigne sometimes falls victim to in her work.
Aside from these downfalls, the rest of the album is solid. A personal favourite song is “Bite Me,” which Lavigne strategically used as a promotional song. This is the track that reminded me most of the songs she dropped in the blossoming stages of her career and I can see “Bite Me” fitting nicely into her discography. This song, the epitome of teen angst─or perhaps millennial angst considering her age and lyrics such as, “You’re gonna wish I was your wifey”─caters to Lavigne’s loyal fanbase.
“Love Sux” and “F.U.” are also strong contenders for potential singles—the former has rather juvenile lyrics, but the overall vibe is a classic representation of Lavigne’s sound. “F.U.” sounds similar to the rest of the angry break up songs on Love Sux, but it has the most relatable lyrics, as Lavigne cries for her partner to listen to her for once.
Though pop punk has always existed, it experienced a recent lull in popularity until young artists like Maggie Lindemann and Olivia Rodrigo began experimenting with the genre. This, combined with Lavigne’s reputation as the queen of pop punk, leads me to believe Love Sux will be received well by many. Even if you aren’t one to typically listen to her style of music, she’s a vocal powerhouse and the lyrics in every song remain relatable enough for everyone to rock out to in their bedroom.
Album Rating
★★★★
Featured image via Avril Lavigne/Elektra Records.
