Pussy Power

Avril Lavinge (as I remember her)

Ok so I have recently rekindled my love of terrible noughties and nineties girl pop - and we're talking Avril Lavigne and Taylor Swift. I am totally aware that none of these lovely ladies write their own music and are basically purely performers, but that doesn't mean I can't (if not slightly ironically), enjoy their music. I've recently realised that many of the bands and musicians I listen to regularly are male (like Peace, David Bowie, Tame Impala and The Smiths) and even though there are some killer girl bassists (Kim Gordon and Kim Deal amongst them) and singers (Haim, Ellie from Wolf Alice), there is a severe deficiency of badass girl pop in my musical diet.

Part of this love for Avril Lavigne is nostalgic - she was my first music obsession. At age eight, I'd sit in my room with her album 'Let Go' on repeat, and her songs soundtracked many sleepovers and family holidays. With her fingerless gloves, neon hair and skater boyfriends, she was literally my idol. I wanted to be her. My friends and I made dance routines to her songs and I even learnt one of them in Japanese. In retrospect it was embarrassing but sweet, a tween obsession.

However, I'm not totally lacking in girlzzz. Grimes is, basically, an electro-pop fairy. She is almost a mature version of Avril Lavigne, but instead of some old man writing her songs for her, she does literally everything herself. From the album artwork to the studio production, to co-producing and directing (whilst starring in) the music videos, she is just an all-round wonder woman.

- written by avalon x