Avril Lavigne - Love Sux
Avril Lavigne
Love Sux
Release Date: February 25th, 2022
Label: DTA/Elektra Records
Review by Jared Stossel
“Hell yeah, I’m the motherfuckin’ princess,” so proclaimed Avril Lavigne on her third studio album The Best Damn Thing. For the Canadian songstress, the release of The Best Damn Thing marked a pivotal moment in her career, as nearly four years later, she released Goodbye Lullaby, a staunch departure from her days as the posterchild of pop-punk, a modern day “riot grrl” in baggy camo pants and slip-on Vans that appealed more to the tweens and teens congregating in shopping malls than to anyone heading out to their local club show. She was edgy, but not too edgy; parents could take their young kids to one of her shows after seeing her music videos for tracks like “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi” pop up on Nickelodeon and MTV. But there was enough grit and attitude in her earlier albums that appealed to younger people like me, not yet ready to step out of the comfort zone of the Disney pop stars I had grown accustomed to as a kid, but not yet allowed to purchase a copy of Enema of the State. Lavigne was the gateway into all of this music for a lot of younger people. Her albums between 2011 and 2019 became far poppier the many expected. While continuing to put out great singles here and there, many suspected that the Avril Lavigne of the early 2000s was indeed done.
Well, it’s 2022, and I can confidently say that Avril Lavigne has released a pop-punk record again. While it’s not exactly like the songs you’d hear on Let Go and Under My Skin, the tracks that make up Love Sux (Lavigne’s seventh album overall) are an astonishing return to form for the singer-songwriter, producing some of the catchiest songs of her entire career. The album was co-written and produced by Mod Sun, John Feldmann, and Travis Barker, three of the best possible choices for working within the alternative and pop-punk world. Mod Sun, Feldmann, and Barker know the intricacies of this music backwards and forwards, so it makes sense that their fingerprints would all over the production of Love Sux.
Like a ticking time bomb that’s about to explode, “Cannonball” is a fierce declaration that the old Avril is indeed back, infusing elements of electronica and punk into a chorus that explodes with sickly-sweet melodies and harmonies. “Bois Lie” features the first collaboration on Love Sux with the presence of Machine Gun Kelly, teaming up with Lavigne on the chorus and trading off catchy verses. The “la la la’s” are in full effect here. “Bite Me”, the album’s lead single, finds Lavigne showing off her vocal prowess over cleanly plucked guitar notes that culminate in one of the most power-packed verses in her career.
“Love It When You Hate Me” brings the energy down temporarily, with Lavigne serenading the audience before the beats kicks in with an early 2000s-esque pop-punk chorus (and a well selected collaborator in blackbear, who lends a verse to the track). “Love Sux”, the title track, feels like it could have been plucked right out of a recording session for The Best Damn Thing, kicking off a run of songs that prove to be the most memorable. “Kiss Me Like The World Is Ending” brandishes the candy-coating that all syrupy pop-punk love songs wield: an infectious melody, and lyrics about love that evoke memories of the summer romances we all had as teenagers.
“Avalanche” and “Déjà vu” feature two of the best choruses that Lavigne has ever written and performed, both sweepingly epic in their own ways. “F.U.” pulls inspiration from Paramore’s “Misery Business” as Lavigne declares “I’m fucking over you” to the subject of her song. We then head into “All I Wanted”, a song that finds Lavigne teaming up with another Blink-182 member (Mark Hoppus), for a double-time track that bursts into a bouncy chorus. At this moment, the only thing missing from the album is a ballad, and Lavigne satisfies this requirement with “Dare To Love Me”. All of that energy that’s been released thus far leads to this moment of calm, with the singer-songwriter bringing the song to life beautifully. The final song, “Break of a Heartache”, is a full-speed punk-inspired assault that clocks in under two minutes. It’s the most “rock” Avril Lavigne has been in years, and Love Sux is a warm welcome back to the genre that embraced her in the early aughts. You’ve been missed, Avril.
Avril Lavigne
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