Three words can sum up Sum 41's latest, Does This Look Infected?: dumb, fast and loud.
Too bad these words are used to describe the band's previous album, All Killer No Filler and its off-stage antics.
Famed for its heavy-drinking, rock-style behavior and obnoxious jokes, the band plays its poppy punk to TRL crowds with no remorse. But, in my opinion, teeny-boppers could be listening to worse, at least Sum 41's members could pronounce David Bowie's name.
Does This Look Infected? wastes no time ploying old punk rock tricks, and mixes it with hook-laden vocals.
Just turn on MTV or the radio and you can hear "Still Waiting," a bouncy number that sticks out as a definite single. The lyrics are kind of heavy for a song so darn catchy: "Can't find a good reason, can't find hope to believe in, so am I still waiting for this world to stop hating."
Pretty hefty stuff for a bunch of Canadians in their early 20's. But the Sum 41 boys haven't grown up, just check out their video for the song, which mocks The Strokes lo-fi video, "Last Nite."
The next track, "A.N.I.C." revolves around calling somebody names and pretty much goes through the whole list of dirty words.
Other proof that the band is still as mature as the high school jocks it makes fun of -- all the songs lyrics sound like something straight out of a phone call to the teen hotline.
They range through the angsty emotions of bad break-ups, confusion, and depression, all from the point of view of a 16-year old, which works considering this is its main audience. But for a college student, the album is nothing more than a guilty pleasure listen, harkening back to the good-old days when Green Day was still cool.
-- Reviewed by Caleb Sheaffer

