Sum 41
Does This Look Infected?

THE REVIEW

INTRO:
No one has talked about this CD; there must be a reason... I'm not saying it's an LP to throw away, but frankly, it could have been done better considering there’s so much punk-rock stuff these days...

The year 2003 is the year of "Does This Look Infected?" a CD where Deryck Whibley, the band's leader and guitarist (who got engaged to A. Lavigne in 2005, and that’s definitely not very punk) seems to have matured slightly...

SIMILARITIES:
Aside from the various analogies with the previous "All Killer No Filler" which can be expected, the album seems too similar to itself; from the ninth track "Mr. Amsterdam" to the thirteenth "Hooch", the rhythm remains practically unchanged, in short, it sounds like listening to the same song repeated several times with different keys.

WHAT'S "GOOD":
The first part of the CD seems fresh and is quite catchy, "The Hell Song" is a fast track with a chorus that easily sticks in your head (perhaps too easily), but it has a peculiarity: in fact, D. Whibley's solo is practically identical to that of C. Kroeger in "How You Remind Me" from 2001, but it might be a coincidence. "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)" is excellent in my opinion, the best track of the album, it's the track that seems to depend the least on the previous album, the guitar solos during the finale are very beautiful. It greatly benefits from Steve Jocz, who is the drummer as well as the main member of the band (without him they would have had half the success).

WHAT'S WRONG:
"Asshole" is stupidity, a few seconds of random screams; "Still Waiting" is the driving piece of the album but here the four Canadian guys have overdone it by "commercializing" it a bit too much, there's no need to explain the song since everyone knows it "So am I still waiting For this world to stop hating," etc. "ANIC" is the second stupidity of the album, completely similar to the previous "Asshole." It goes up slightly in level with "No Brains," the best track along with "Over My Head," beautiful rhythm and the lyrics are quite serious (one of the few songs of the album to have it), we're on the level of Offspring and Blink; then it goes down again with "All Messed Up" a song that sounds like it's sung by 4 spoiled kids in kindergarten!

MEDIOCRE ENDING:
As already mentioned, the ending is really poor in ideas with only "Thanks For Nothing" putting on a good show, but even here there are doubts: the initial part of the song is a "carbon copy" of the basic melody of "Miserable" by LIT. Then the rest is all theirs and it's not bad. As already mentioned, and I won't be repetitive, the ending is just repeating the same chords, the same melodies, maybe only the drums offer something more (that's why I dared to say that Steve Jocz (the drummer) is the only one with some ideas).

COMMENT:
There isn’t much to say; I do not recommend spending money on this LP; maybe borrow it or ask Emule for help... "Worrying," however, is that the subsequent "Chuck" from 2004, will feel even more "old," with already tried melodies and slightly sadder lyrics. For the joy of true rockers, the commercial phenomenon Sum 41 is about to decline...

CURIOSITY:
Have you ever wondered why they are called Sum 41? They formed on the first of August, which is the 41st day of summer (Summer+41) AT LEAST THE NAME IS ORIGINAL!

TRACKLIST:

Does This Look Infected?
Hell Song
Over My Head (Better Off Dead)
Asshole
My Direction
Still Waiting
A.N.I.C.
No Brains
All Messed Up
Mr. Amsterdam
Thanks For Nothing
Hyper-Insomnia-Para-Condrioid
Billy Spleen
Hooch
Reign In Pain (UK Bonus Track)