Arista
Pop Rock, 2007

The Best Damn Thing this one certainly isn’t, even if Avril Lavigne has begun uttering the F word to prove that she is, this time, genuinely a hard-ass punk rocker who can beat up Pink with one hand tied behind her back. However, even if the songs here are still following the same formula of her previous CDs and the formula does start to feel a little stale, songs like Innocence and I Don’t Have to Try can still work their magic. They are nicely produced, catchy, and so vapid in a good way that they are like delicious chewing gums – so nice to chew on, and so easily spat out and forgotten thereafter.

However, somewhere out in this world is a video recording of me belting out Hot in one of those dreadful karaoke clubs that I was dragged into. I couldn’t help it – I had one drink too many, I love this song to pieces, and when I noticed that the song was on the set list, I couldn’t hold myself back. Okay, I might sound like a bullfrog getting barbecued alive when I tried to imitate Ms Lavigne’s “You’re so good to me-eee-eee baby ba-beeeeee!” but come on, did you see how many drinks I’d had? To that fellow who had the recording, you know who you are, I want the incriminating video back. Don’t make me come over and take it back personally. If you think that my performance of Hot is terrifying, you ain’t seen nothing yet.