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Sum 41
State of the Art

BY SEAN RICHARDSON

When their debut full-length, All Killer No Filler (Island), came out in May, the suburban Toronto foursome Sum 41 were just another band of radio-punk hopefuls with an opening slot on the Blink-182 tour and a reputation for breaking stuff. Then came their breakthrough single, " Fat Lip, " the funniest punk take on Licensed to Ill–style hip-hop brattiness since Anthrax’s " I’m the Man " and early Bloodhound Gang. With " Fat Lip " long since crossed over to Top 40 radio, the band are embarking on their first headlining US club tour; it’ll hit Avalon this Tuesday.

Over the phone from New York, Sum 41 bassist Cone reminisces fondly about his recent 21st birthday — even though he and his bandmates have already been legal for a couple of years in their native Canada, where the drinking age is 19. " I puked on Nikka Costa, " he says triumphantly. The group were in New York for the MTV Video Music Awards and partying at a downtown Manhattan bar with their fellow Best New Artist nominee. " We were talking to her, and all the sudden I just started, like . . . you know, all this saliva starts going in your mouth and you start blacking out. I’m like, ‘Holy shit, what’s happening to me?’ I just leaned over and puked all over her shoes. She’s like, ‘He’s puking on my shoes! Get him away!’ They had to drag me outside. "

Misbehavior — alcohol-induced or otherwise — is a common theme on All Killer No Filler, which mostly ditches the sappy love songs that dominate contemporary pop punk in favor of the stoned suburban debauchery of Green Day’s Dookie (Reprise). Sum 41 also share a love for good-old-fashioned heavy metal, which they satirize on the album’s hilarious closing track, " Pain for Pleasure. " " Dave [guitarist Brown Sound, who wrote the song] was a big metal freak, " says Cone. " He was in a death-metal band that my old band used to play with. His favorite band was Death. " The metal influence extends to the band’s stage show — specifically, to drummer Stevo 32’s recently upgraded nightly solo. " We’re going to have strobe lights built into his kick drums. He’s got two kick drums now, and every time he hits them, it’s going to be the strobe thing. "

When their current tour wraps up, Sum 41 are scheduled to hit Europe, Australia, and Japan. Recent terrorist attacks notwithstanding, Cone hopes to make the trip: " You can’t just stop being a band because this happened. " Fans can also expect a home-video release of the band’s storied backstage antics early next year. " At the end of the year, you get your statement of how much shit you’ve wrecked. The first year that we started touring, it came in really high. Our manager freaked out on us. We stopped doing it for a while and our label started getting mad, like, ‘Why aren’t you fucking shit up anymore? You guys are known for that.’ We said, ‘We have no money. We can’t keep paying for it.’ The president of our label said, ‘Keep breaking stuff. As long as you get it on videotape, I’ll pay for it all.’ Now, it’s like open season. "

Sum 41 perform this Tuesday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street; call (617) 262-2424, or (617) 423-NEXT for advance tickets.

Issue Date: October 11 - 18, 2001