Perhaps you heard? Avril Lavigne is being sued by seventies soft-rockers the Rubinoos, who are claiming that Lavigne’s song “Girlfriend†rips off their song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.†We could wait for the courts of the state of California to decide, but why bother when we can judge for ourselves? As shown in the video comparison above, there is one obvious similarity — both artists’ rhythmic use of the wildly original phrase “Hey! (Hey!) You! (You!) I wanna be your [significant other]!†It’s possible the Rubinoos have a case, though in every other way their acoustic sensitive-guy treatment is a million miles away from Lavigne’s cheerleader-punk track.
For our part, we’re just surprised that no one’s talking about the real news here: That Avril’s never particularly impressive girl-power sound seems to have deteriorated here into an obnoxious pop disaster that falls somewhere between Alanis Morrissette and the Mickey Mouse Club. Are the Rubinoos sure they want to be associated with this song? —Sara Cardace