The Anti-Britney?

Image credit: Avril Lavigne Photo by Gabrielle Revere

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Songwriter Zizzo sees it another way. ''Who of us at 15 had a completely clear picture of who we were? I think by doing something creative you find out who you want to be creatively. Avril was absolutely the architect of her record.... And what you see imagewise is who she was from day one in terms of the fatigues and the tank tops. There's a lot of people out there who think this is somehow a look that was put together for her, but nothing could be further from the truth.''

When asked about the assault on her punk credentials -- a war waged on message boards between her true believers and teens who have a powerful urge to reject her as a role model -- Lavigne sighs, suggesting it's all just semantics. ''Punk is a touchy subject,'' Lavigne says. ''A punk is a person who's always getting in trouble and doing things they're not supposed to. Yeah, I do that.... Then there's punk as a way of life, and punk rock as an aggressive form of music, which is very political, and I never said I was that.... People are like, 'Well, she doesn't know the Sex Pistols.' Why would I know that stuff? Look how young I am. That stuff's old, right?''

Next up for Lavigne: After 10 straight months of promotional work, she'll start a tour, to be followed by another album, expected fall '03. ''Sometimes I'm mature and serious, other times I'm just a little kid jumping around,'' she says. ''I had to grow up fast. I used to never be serious about anything -- and I still goof off. But my friends are like, 'Whoa, you've totally grown up.' And I'm like, 'You're scaring me. Don't tell me that!' I feel really old now that I'm 18.''

To read more about Avril Lavigne, check out the Nov. 1, 2002, issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine.