Avril Lavigne has her third album out this week, Best Damn Thing. Judging by the songs she played on SNL, this might be a decent disposable pop album. In the current marketplace, she'd have to rate above average quality for teen pop stuff.
Where Avril Lavigne doesn't come off well is if you (or she) offers her music up as being somehow "punk rock" of any fashion. Avril Lavigne is not a self-loathing, suicidal, drug addicted whore. Therefore, while having a bit of aggressive musical energy, she still could never qualify as "punk rock." That aggression is not punk, but spunk - and that's nice too, unless you hate spunk like Lou Grant does. I'm just saying that young Avril more resembles Mary Richards than Courtney Love. That's a good thing.
Trent Reznor has him a new Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero. Historically, he's pretty much got a couple of things that might be considered legitimate song compositions, padded out with bunches of studio noise effects passed off as music. Reznor himself describes this album as even more "sound collage" than previous efforts.
However, this project has a really interesting marketing campaign based on an elaborate set of seemingly disparate and cross-linked conspiracy websites. They spin out the dystopian storyline for this sci-fi record. If Mr. Reznor spent as much energy on the composition of melody as on marketing shtick, he'd likely have been making much better music. On the other hand, the marketing seems to be working - it's the #1 album currently at Amazon. Plus, I would like to try a fat dose of Parepin. Sounds trippy.
Speaking of dystopian futures, the American Idol domination of pop culture continues with a "country" album by Bucky Covington - whom I so far blissfully have never been exposed to. Plus, he doesn't look quite gay enough to be a modern country singer. However, I'm becoming painfully aware of the American Idol idea of country music via Carrie Underwood. There's some ugly stuff in the water to be producing stuff like the American Idols, whether it's Parepin or old fashion fluoridation. I'm just saying that something seems to be corrupting the purity of our precious bodily fluids.
Article comments
1 - Ashley Gray
I agree, Avril certainly isn't punk rock, but this is a fun little pop album, with a little bit of wit and loud guitars. Not my usual kind of thing, but I thought it worth a review. Check out my website.
2 - Michael J. West
Well, I wasn't aware that you had to be "a self-loathing, suicidal, drug-addicted whore" to be punk rock (since neither Joey Ramone, nor Joe Strummer, nor Johnny Rotten, nor Ian MacKaye were any of those things)...however, even if you lift those criteria, Avril Lavigne still isn't punk rock, so it's neither here nor there.
The actual reason I'm commenting is to recommend one of these new releases:
which is one of the most fascinating of the year so far. Avant-garde jazz/ambient fusion. Awesome.
3 - Al Barger
I can't speak authoritatively to how every single adjective there applies to every single punk, but you don't see how Johnny Rotten for one is FULL of self-loathing? Consider just the famously rotten teeth, for starters. Hey, he doesn't figure he deserves to have good teeth. That's putting a pretty low value on yourself.
4 - Michael J. West
I'm assuming that was a joke (sometimes, Ally, you make it hard to tell!), partially because Rotten is maybe the most enthralled-with-himself rock star this side of Jagger.
5 - zingzing
i second mike... it's not that rotten despises himself... despite the "i wish i could die" mantra of early pil... it's that he hates everything around him so much, and maybe that's where the "self-loathing" you pick up comes from. of course, it could just be an act, which is most certainly is in some way.
and al, we all know that your understanding of punk rock is... at best, simplistic and minimal. which is just what you would say about punk rock, isn't it?
6 - Thomas
The only CD worth picking up on 4/17/2007 was Spells by The Comas
7 - Mike
Nine Inch Nails delivers, as expected. Bucky was surprisingly good. Avril's hott, who cares what she sounds like!
8 - hana
i love you very very mach
avril lavigne you are the best