Sum 41

Sum 41 are a local band from around my hometown who got signed to a major label with a large amount of help from their manager, Treble Charger's Greig Nori, before taking advantage of the rise of pop-punk after Blink-182's success to become one of the main bands of mall punk. Sum 41 themselves are arrogant pricks who think their music is greater than it actually is, so I often regret getting into them when pop-punk was so cool and new to me. I know it's "the music that matters, not the people," but it's hard to mentally seperate their music from their useless personalities.

Half Hour Of Power (2000) 8 Thumbs Up

Sum 41 is typical of newer pop-punk bands in that they seem to have no history before they were signed to a major label. This is their first readily available release, and surprise, it's on major label Island. Although this isn't sold widely in the US, it was a hit in Canada with single "Makes No Difference." Some stores market this album as an EP because only 8 tracks are actual songs - the rest are just instrumental tracks. Half Hour Of Power is true to its name, clocking out at 26 minutes. Everything is short and fast, and they attempt pop-punk, metal, ska, and even freestyle rapping on "What We're All About," which would later be rerecorded as a hit single on the Spiderman soundtrack.

"Machine Gun," with a cool drum beat and random screaming, is probably one of the better tracks they've ever recorded. "What I Believe," "Makes No Difference," and "Another Time Around" are all good catchy pop-punk songs without being standard mall punk. I think what makes this album so much better than their newer stuff is that Sum 41 were still grinning enthusiastic kids, with no preconcieved standards of success they needed to live up to.

All Killer No Filler (2001) 6 Thumbs Up

This was the album that garnered Sum 41 all their current mainstream success, with singles "Fat Lip," "Pain For Pleasure," (both were in the same video) "In Too Deep," and "Motivation." However, as you have undoubtably learned from most pop music, what's popular isn't necessarily good.

Even though they attempt to pay tribute to their metal idols with a "Satanic" voiceover opening track and hair metal parody "Pain For Pleasure," everything else is nothing more than bland, uninspired pop-punk about "rebellion" and relationships. After the first couple of tracks, everything starts to blend into one endless song that the spiky haired kid down the street who just got grounded could've written. These guys have been out of high school for years - what's with the false rebellion attempts?

Their other singles are horrible cliche pop-punk, especially their sad attempts at Beastie Boys-esque rapping over "Fat Lip." "Nothing On My Back," the first actual song on the CD, is probably the only halfway decent track on this album, and sounds like something off the infinitely better Half Hour Of Power. This is a blatant major label calculated release so Island could have their own pop-punk sensation. Everything is so typical of mall punk that it's not even funny. This album also marks Sum 41's descent into typical arrogant MTV stars, despite the mediocrity of their music.

Does This Look Infected? (2002) 8 Thumbs Up

I have to commend Sum 41 for one thing. So many generic pop-punk bands insist that their next album is going to be waaay different, only to churn out more or less the same thing. Whether this is fear of losing their MTV fanbase, or they genuinely can't play anything other than pop-punk, I don't know. It's just a rule of thumb that the album right after a band's breakthrough success album is the same thing again. It happened to Blink-182, it happened to New Found Glory, it even happened to Danzig. So I have to congradulate Sum 41 for saying that their next album would be different, and actually pulling it off.

This album is more pop-metal than it is pop-punk. The boys are finally making it clear they grew up listening to Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses, rather than just claiming they did. Gone are the false rebellion and broken relationship songs, replaced with a serious look at the AIDS epidemic, Bush's war on terrorism, teen suicide, and betrayed friendships, to name a few. Sum 41, despite their obsession with useless bimbo Paris Hilton, are honestly trying to stand out beyond the shadow of mall punk. It's amazing that a year ago, this was the same band writing about how annoying it is to get up for school. "Hell Song," "Mr. Amsterdam," "Thanks For Nothing," and awesome album closer "Hooch" are the standout tracks. Everything about this album beats All Killer No Filler, hands down.

Chuck (2004) 5 Thumbs Up

Mehhhhhh. Maybe it's just the fact that, since Sum 41's heydey, I've been listening to a wide variety of music aside from just pop-punk, so this record seems bland, repetitive, and a blatant attempt at cashing in on the recent emo-hipster trend, or maybe this record just genuinely sucks. Imagine a high school band hopelessly trying to be Nirvana, then dress them in brand new emo threads and add piano. This is basically what Sum 41 has become in between Does This Look Infected? and Chuck.

I personally had high hopes for this CD, due to the first single "We're All to Blame," a scathing atttack on Bush's America, being an excellent mix of metal riffs with a catchy, slower chorus. It seemed like a perfect progression away from Does This Look Infected?. Unfortunately, that single is not at all indicitave of what's on the album. As you may have guessed from the godawful, Hoobastank-esque second single, "Pieces," the band tries to cash in on the emo trend by slowing down their songs. Just have one listen to "Some Say," which sounds like an Oasis B-side, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Sure, there are some fast songs, but they sound so awkward and half-assed that you quickly forget about them. "We're All to Blame" is, in all honesty, the only really good song on the entire record. If you like crap like My Chemical Romance or Taking Back Sunday, this is the record for you.

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