Audio By Carbonatix
Look, I’m as big an Avril Lavigne supporter as the next ninth-grade girl for whom Christina Aguilera has ceased to be a positive role model; I mean, I’ve never hung out in a dingy Singaporean brothel with oversized stuffed animals and lubed-up bodybuilders running around either, so I can certainly relate to a young person wearing a necktie and mourning the one that got away and becoming a big rock star instead of sticking around and starting a family. (I miss you, Rivers!) But what kind of a letdown is “Losing Grip,” Lavigne’s current radio single (the fourth to be taken from her over-5-million-selling Let Go)? What’s great about “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi” and especially “I’m With You” is their duality, the sense that Lavigne’s not anymore of a toughie than you are, but that she sometimes feels like one–in “Complicated” she cops to being frustrated, not enraged or inflamed or possessed by the devil. Just frustrated, in a way that those sprinkly keyboards can pretty much soothe. There’s none of that in “Losing Grip”; it’s plain old nü-metal bluster that I could get as easily from Evanescence, well choreographed but lacking Lavigne’s usual gesture toward the true smell of teen spirit. I know we all need to vent sometimes, but don’t sell us out now, Avril. Please?
When news happens, Dallas Observer is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
