Who ever thought punk pop rock princess Avril Lavigne would ever really grow up? Avril sure didn’t. After the lukewarm critical and commercial response to her last studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, the artist returns with the new lead single to her upcoming 2013 effort. “Here’s To Never Growing Up”, produced by Lavigne and Martin Johnson, lead singer of Boys Like Girls, is an ode to having a good time and staying young forever, following in the footsteps of pop tracks from Ke$ha and Rihanna, but with more of an effect.
Coming out of the gate with pounding production and one of the year’s catchiest lines, “singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs, with the boom box blaring as we’re falling in love”, the new single may not be a departure from what we have come to expect from Lavigne, however, a convincing vocal performance, feel good lyrics and clapping beats make for a strong pop song. No need to fix something that was never broken.
Sure, the dancing-till-the-sun-comes-up, never-want-to-grow-old anthem might have been done a hundred times already, see “Die Young” and “Cheers (Drink To That)”, but “Here’s To Never Growing Up” is not just a Top 40 friendly piece of pop sugar, it is a representation of an artist and an answer to critics who say her music to not maturing or showing any growth. It is just good to hear the carefree attitude Avril Lavingne is known for instead of the depressing material that filled her last album. Time to go blast some Radiohead.