Avril Lavigne [ tickets ] has tapped fellow Canadians Simple Plan [ tickets ] to open on the U.S. dates of her upcoming North American tour.

Canadian pop-punk band Gob will also be on the bill of Lavigne's inaugural headlining jaunt, dubbed the "Try To Shut Me Up" tour. The outing gets underway in April.

Simple Plan released its debut album, "No Pads, No Helmets ... Just Balls," last July. The album, on the strength of the MTV hit "I'd Do Anything," has jumped more than 100 places on the Billboard 200 album chart in the last four weeks, and currently resides at No. 44.

According to Simple Plan's publicist, the band played more than 300 shows in 2002, supporting groups including Blink-182, Good Charlotte and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Simple Plan was also one of five featured artists for the first-ever MTV "Spankin' New Band's Week," performing their hit single "I'd Do Anything" live on the network, followed by a half-hour set on MTV2.

Simple Plan appears on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Jan. 28, and is scheduled to play on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Feb. 4.

British Columbia's Gob releases its fifth album, "Foot in Mouth Disease," in April.