Avril Lavigne

The Best Damn Thing

Sony BMG

Nicole Kai (CHARTattack)

05/08/2007 3:37pm

Isn't Avril Lavigne married now? Somehow this reality has escaped her latest album, which takes Mrs. Deryck Whibley straight back to her bratty high school days. Lavigne keeps the girlie pop punk flag — Barbie pink, white and black — unabashedly raised on her third release, busting out one adolescent drama-inspired chorus after another. All the tracks have a ridiculously upbeat cheerleader feel, from the clap-happy first single, "Girlfriend," to the title track. The lyrics stick to the tried-and-true, spunky mall rebel shtick, narrowly avoiding the parental advisory label by shushing several prominent curses mid-word. The album features two tracks produced by Lavigne's hubby, which bear unsurprising resemblance to his work with Sum 41. The three equally cloying power ballads are strategically placed to break up the bouncy tempo. Instead of showing a more mature side, Lavigne is simply singing the same old song.