Review: Pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne reigns on 'Love Sux'

Avril Lavigne is still a queen of pop-punk nearly two decades after her debut

"Love Sux” Avril Lavigne (DTA Records)

Avril Lavigne is known for being a pillar of pop-punk in the early 2000s, who paved her own path in the male dominated alt-rock world. It’s been almost 20 years since her debut album “Let Go,” was released in the summer of 2002. But the Grammy Award-nominated artist is reminding everyone that she is still the master of the genre in her new seventh album, “Love Sux.”

This new album transports us back to those days when teen angst was palpable and alt-rock was playing on your MySpace page.

Lavigne is not trying to appease anyone. Many of the tracks on the album explore an edge to pop-punk that’s not typical to mainstream Top 40 radio. Electric guitars are blasting through almost every track. The first song, “Cannonball,” you hear feedback amp and an electric guitar, then she sings, “Like a ticking time bomb I’m about to explode.”