Avril Lavigne's 'Love Sux': What We Can Learn From the Iconic Pop Punk Princess
Pop punk –maybe the music industry as a whole– wouldn’t be what it is today without Avril Lavigne. From her debut album Let Go that paved the way for other female pop punk musicians to her many iconic singles that continuously pop up on “Best Pop Punk Songs of All Time” lists, Avril has been an irreplaceable fixture in music since she released her debut single “Complicated” 20 years ago. To this day, she continues to inspire modern artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Willow Smith.
As a kid, I always wanted to mimic the complicated skater girl persona she put forth to the world, a girl who could act effortlessly cool at the skate park and resist authority, yet later cry alone in her room with the hurt of a broken heart. To me, that’s what makes her so appealing. From the beginning of her career, she’d established herself as the voice of misfit girls, the advocate against authority, the destroyer of boys who mistreated the girls they dated.
At 37 years old now, Avril has been in the industry longer than most of us have been alive but she’s far from being a relic of the past or following the same downfall as MySpace and the much maligned “teapot pose.” On the contrary, she’s explored all kinds of different genres outside of pop punk; from rock to bubblegum pop, EDM to pop rock, released seven highly successful albums, and has had several songs revive and find second lives in today’s digital space.
Remember when everyone was using her 2011 single “What the Hell” in their YouTube videos? Or when her famous 2002 single “Sk8er Boi” went viral on TikTok when she collaborated with Tony Hawke for her debut on the app? By now, whether by accident or intention, she knows how to stay relevant with her audience that is wide-ranging in ages and generational divides. Her music has remained a staple of our lives as we’ve evolved and grown alongside her.
It’s especially miraculous when you think about the fact that women enter many industries already with an expiration date, especially in media and entertainment. Compared to men, who often continue working and are in high demand several decades after the standard age of retirement (think Clint Eastwood, Joe Pesci, Robert de Niro), women can only thrive in the limelight for so long before their beauty –and therefore relevance– starts to fade. We’re shocked to see 50-year-olds like Jennifer Lopez still playing main characters in movies or 90-year-olds like Betty White still beloved. So with or without all the successes under her belt, what makes Avril so evergreen? For me, the answer lies in her seventh studio album Love Sux.
This is without a doubt her best album yet. I’m not just saying that because we’re seeing a revival of the pop punk genre across the board (arguably due in large part to Olivia Rodrigo) or because it’s a throwback to the version of Avril we know best, a return we need in a time when everything feels uncertain and unknown. Both of those things are true but the music itself is genuinely good.
From the opening of “Cannonball,” Avril comes crashing into the room with furious drums, hard guitars, lyrics that scream and rage and scratch and don’t wait for the listener to keep up. Instead, we’re swept along the album’s contagious, infectious high rock energy, enjoying the ride along the way.
That trademark Avril spirit is kept up in “Bois Lie” featuring Machine Gun Kelly and the subsequent song “Bite Me,” both of which made me feel so nostalgic for the early 2000s. With that iconic pop punk guitar, they feel like they’d appear on the soundtracks of movies from that time like A Cinderella Story or She’s the Man, or play in the background of a Hot Topic. I especially liked her duet with MGK because of its “he said, she said” lyricism that made it feel like a sequel or continuation of her 2007 hit “Girlfriend,” both in content and sound.
“Love Sux,” “Kiss Me Like The World Is Ending,” and “F.U.” are a few of my other favorite tracks, again for their commitment to making us feel nostalgic for the early years of Avril’s career, even if not all of us were alive back then or were toddlers so we don’t remember much. I loved their kickass energy but “Dare to Love Me” is a refreshing turn in the tracklist for its careful use of piano and ballad-like quality. I admired Avril’s vulnerability and tenderness in this song, which differed wildly from the rest of the album that remains furious and rageful. They’ve been equally necessary to Avril’s success as an artist so it was reassuring to see her embracing both.
Love Sux represents a great deal in the wider scheme of Avril’s career and for her fanbase, from her long-awaited return to her roots and classic sound, to the continuing success story of a female musician still thriving in an industry that doesn’t always make it easy or possible for women to succeed. Personally, it’s been such a long time since I sat down and listened to a project of hers from first to last track, but her accomplishments and music have been no less influential on my life than when I was a kid.
I felt transported back to the peak of wide neckties, eyeliner, baggy jeans, chokers, thick bracelets, flip phones, to the days of iconic 2000s movies and simpler times. I’m grateful to Avril for taking us back and giving us the gift of escapism in a year that has already felt a little too long. If you too are looking for a temporary escape route, look no further than Love Sux, and maybe take a re-listen to the rest of her discography while you’re at it for a further walk down Y2K memory lane.