Description:
"Does This Look Infected? [Edited]" (11/26/2002) Hardcore/Punk Sum 41, Island Records (USA)Sum 41: Sirbiznatch, Cope, Stevo Dirty Poo, The Honorable Sir Captain Brownsound Of The First Airborne, Regiment, Heavyweight Champion PHD. Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, New York. Often lumped unfairly into the same pop-punk bag as Green Day, and sometimes even dismissed as nothing more than A Blink-182 rip-off, Sum 41 definitively separates itself from the pack with DOES THIS LOOK INFECTED?. Sporting a level of sheer musicianship that dwarfs that of the aforementioned groups, the band powers through all 12 tracks with a machine-like efficiency and a thrash metalesque knack for rhythmic precision and complexity. In fact, there are instrumental passages here that could easily pass for MASTER OF PUPPETS-era Metallica or even vintage Anthrax. To be sure, there are the usual heaping helpings of catchy melodies and Descendents-approved high harmonies throughout, but DOES THIS LOOK INFECTED? reveals an increased emphasis on the punk half of the punk-pop equation. Echoes of pioneering hardcore/metal hybrid bands like Killing Time, Leeway, and Bad Brains abound, and the record consequently has a tougher, more substantial feel than any of Sum 41's previous efforts.