Avril Lavigne Promises Best Damn Thing on New RecordHeather AdlerPublished: Tuesday, January 30, 2007Pop-punk-princess-turned-spit-crazed-fashionista Avril Lavigne has announced she will release a new record in April on a post on her MySpace page.

The album will be humbly titled The Best Damn Thing and be preceded by single “Girlfriend,” which will hit airwaves in February. The Canadian sk8r girl with a penchant for exclamation points and poor spelling is also promising fans they will dig the new tracks.

“I promise you guys will LOVE this record, it is my favorite one!!! And I can't wait!!!!!” she writes. “It is really fast, fun, young, bratty, aggressive, confident, cocky in a playful way....all the good stuff.”

Deryck Whibley’s ball and chain also revealed the record will feature more up-tempo tracks and only three ballads, a move that was inspired by Lavigne’s desire to have an energetic live show, which will surely be filled with high-kicks, fist-pumps and naughty flashes of the middle finger (so punk-rock!).

“This record will make a great live show, and that's what I had in mind while writing it! My last tour helped inspire me. So because I am a touring artist and spend so much of my time playing live shows, I wanted to make sure the songs were fun. Fun for the fans and myself.”

January 29, 2007, 1:50 PM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Avril Lavigne has penciled in an April 17 release for her new RCA album, "The Best Damn Thing." As previously reported, the first single is "Girlfriend"; it will arrive March 5 at U.S. radio outlets, and its accompanying video will premiere Feb. 26 on MTV.

With its handclaps and bad-girl vibe, the track is reminiscent of Toni Basil's "Mickey," as Lavigne pushes past rival ladies to demand attention from a new guy: "She's like, so whatever / you could do so much better," she sings of her competition.

Two other tracks previewed by Billboard.com follow in a similar style: "I Can Do Better" is a fast and punky kiss-off with Blink 182-ish guitar riffs, and the title cut finds Lavigne proclaiming she is the "best damn thing your eyes have ever seen."

Elsewhere, "When You're Gone" is a power ballad with a piano and synth introduction, and "Everything Back But You" mines Rancid-style pop/punk for another diss of a cheating boyfriend. "The Best Damn Thing" will also include "Keep Holding On," previously released on the "Eragon" soundtrack.

"I wanted to make sure the songs were fun -- fun for the fans and myself," Lavigne said in a December post on her MySpace page. At present, the artist is in the midst of tour rehearsals but details have yet to be announced.


Meanwhile, Lavigne has teamed up with Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Random House, to publish "Make 5 Wishes", the company’s first American manga. The first volume of "Make 5 Wishes" will be released shortly before "The Best Damn Thing"; the second volume will come out in July.

According to Del Rey Manga, the story follows "introverted teenager Hana [as she] stumbles upon a website that will change her life forever. After a demon grants her a series of wishes that go bad, Hana meets her hero Avril Lavigne."

Girlfriend - The single was set for release on January 29th 2007, but has reportedly been pushed back due to the success of current single "Keep Holding On" . The song premiered on Ottawa radio station Hot 89.9 on the morning of February 7, 2007. The video will world premiere on TRL and Much On Demand on February 26. -Wikipedia.com

Girlfriend - Stay tuned for her first single "Girlfriend" hitting radio waves March 5th in North America, and on March 19th Internationally. - avrillavigne.com

You choose which one to beleive.