Cartman_2k's Full Review: Does This Look Infected? [Edited] by Sum 41
For the last few years a lot of pop-punk bands have seen the light of day, some of them have become enormously successful (Blink 182 being the best example), while some have been one-hit wonders. I wasn’t too sure if Sum 41 would have a bright future ahead of them, and after seeing the Marilyn Manson / Slipknot-ish cover and the immature title Does This Look Infected. After listening to the album a few times I’m not sure why I doubted them..
Uh… Who the Heck Are Sum 41?
Sum 41 are four Canadian guys, Deryck Whibley on guitar and vocals, Steve Jocz on drums, Dave Baksh on guitar and Jay McCaslin on bass. They formed in 1997, and they were at that time one of the worst punk bands in Canada. (I’ve heard some bootlegs from back then, and they truly did suck) Over the next three years they rehearsed, and rehearsed even more, so they eventually became a pretty good band. So good that Island Records in 2000 signed them. The same year they released their debut album called Half Hour of Power, it wasn’t an enormous success but at least they became somewhat popular. Their big breakthrough came with their first single from their sophomore album, Fat Lip. The album, All Killer No Filler was a success and now they have fans all over the world.
Now Moving On To The Album! It Certainly Looks Infected, But Don’t Judge The Book.. Er.. The CD By Its Cover
The album starts off with a really nice song which is a good indicator of what you can expect on the album, Hell Song. It’s a nice tune which can remind you a lot of the pop-punk which you could hear on their previous album All Killer No Filler. Still it has a more punk feel to it, and the chorus is really catchy, yet heavier than what you have heard from them before.
Over My Head and Yesterday.com are songs which sounds like they are taken straight off Green Day’s Dookie or any of the albums Offspring made in the early 90’s. Over My Head is my second favorite song on the album, because the music is perfect and the whole song is catchy. Yesterday.com is a heavier song where Sum 41 shows us how good they are at playing their instruments.
My Direction sounds like Blink 182’s Dude Ranch mixed together with System of a down’s song “Boom”. It shows that Sum 41 have become more political, and in this song they talk about the social system and the problems in this society. At their previous album they mocked everything that had to do with political issues, and here they show us that they have matured in more than one way.
All Messed Up is another song which can remind you of what you heard on their previous album, but with better music and more mature lyrics. It’s one of the few songs on the album that’s so mainstream that almost everyone will like it.
Mr. Amsterdam mainly focuses on showing off the talents of the musicians, and although it’s not one my favorite songs on the album, the music is truly amazing! I can almost guarantee that you will think that they are more than just childish brats after hearing this song :)
Thanks For Nothing can in many ways resemble Fat Lip. While quite a few of the songs on the previous album had a rap section, this is the only on this album that has that. I really loved Fat Lip, and while this is a paler, punkier duplicate of the song, it’s nevertheless a good song.
The first single off of the album, Still Waiting is my favorite song on the album. The music is so melodic yet pretty heavy, and it’s catchier than most punk-songs I’ve heard this year. If you liked this song, I’m sure you will like the album as well.
Ignorance and Understanding
We're the first ones to jump in line
Out of step for what we believe in
But who’s left?
To start the pleading
How far will we take this?
It's not hard to see through the sickness
Track Listing
1. Hell Song (*****)
2. Over My Head (*****)
3. My Direction (****)
4. Still Waiting (*****)
5. A**hole (*** ˝ )
6. Yesterday.com (****)
7. All Messed Up (**** ˝ )
8. Mr. Amsterdam (*** ˝ )
9. Thanks For Nothing (**** ˝ )
10. Hyper-Insomnia (*** ˝ )
11. Billy Spleen (****)
12. Hooch (****)
So, What’s Your Final Verdict, Kent?
This was really a positive surprise. I thought that the last album was a really good album, but what I didn’t like was that they had such really stupid lyrics and the music wasn’t as good as it could be all of the time. They’ve improved in both areas this time around; giving us at least somewhat meaningful lyrics and they’ve grown as musicians. The album is a bit undiversified at times, but they’ve managed to pull it off better than many of the other similar bands (e.g New Found Glory and Good Charlotte)
Should I Buy This Album?
If you haven’t heard of Sum 41 before, but you like punk, I think you’ll like this album a lot. If you have heard them before, and you liked them, you will probably like this album as well. Even though the pop is gone, they are still as melodic as they ever were, and this is punk at it’s best (well, almost) The album would have been better if it was a bit longer (the album runs at 31 minutes), but maybe they’ll fix that next time around, with an even better sound as well (if that is possible)
You can listen to soundclips from the album on their website http://www.islandrecords.com/sum41 if you’re still not sure if you want to buy this album or not
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