Avril Lavigne: Let Go

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

While her hit single Complicated suggests — as its chorus sticks to the inside of your skull — that the 17-year-old Canadian Avril Lavigne could be another Alanis Morissette Mini-me, the rest of her debut album shows that's perhaps too easy a tag.

Her 13 songs do suggest a bit of angst-excess and that she has had more than her fair share of boy trouble for someone her age. But it's her voice rather than her dear-diary insights that makes this album stand up. And it impresses the most when she varies the country-tinged pop-rock numbers with a goofy, girly punk snarl on Sk8er Boi, the rap-versed Nobody's Fool or vocally goes for broke on the swaggering Unwanted.

Unfortunately, not all of the 13 tracks have that same strength of musical character, so while it's solid enough — it's still a pity that Let Go doesn't quite.

Label: Arista