As I’m beginning to feel like Avril’s album may be among my favorites of the year so far (this and the Neurosis album, ok?) , I feel like I have some responsibility to chime in on the debate that centered around the recent article on the main site. I figured I’d bring it out here to continue the discussion a bit more easily.
One of the criticisms leveled at Avril is that of being without a personality. I can’t think a statement could be further from the truth. Giving her the benefit of the doubt in the basic construction of her public persona, Avril has crafted a very distinct personality that is anti-pose and anti-Britney. She wants people just to be themselves, rather than trying to act like something they’re not. Throughout her first album and, much more interestingly done on her second, she does so in an incredibly schizophrenic manner because she’s a 17 yr. old girl trying to find herself and trying to find her way in the world. If the complaint is about how she sings the songs too straight, I also couldn’t disagree more. As J0hn Darnie11e used to deride the song’s singing: “the mispronunciation of “complicated” to make it rhyme with the even worse mispronunciation of “frustrated” — that song just reeks to heaven in so many ways “, I find to be one of the reasons to embrace it all the more. The Canadian accent adds a different pronunciation to key words that make it far more interesting otherwise. In any case, there are numerous subtle inflections that she brings to certain moments of songs is actually quite brilliant (new album “Forgotten”’s beginning, “I’m With You”’s climax, “Freak Out”’s punk sneer). And all of this is aside from the fact that she’s an INCREDIBLE singer. That’s the reason that she got a record deal in the first place.
The further claim made in the comments of the article go like this: “Avril has nothing to add to any music dialogue”. Mmm. I’m halfway able to agree with this. Except for the fact that when she appeared on the pop landscape there was not a strong female presence that denied sexuality as a defining influence. Her contribution to the musical dialogue is anthems for teenage girls that don’t have someone to listen to (on the radio) that say that abstinence is good, outside of Christian stations. I can’t imagine the semi-atheist teenage girl population that doesn’t want to have sex is that small. It’s an important addition to that musical dialogue and narrative that simply wasn’t being presented at the time.
Finally, the claim that Lavigne’s music isn’t humorous is put on the table. If you can’t listen to “Sk8er Boi” and “He Wasn’t” without cracking a smile, you probably have a different conception of humor than her. Imagine that.