I had absolutely no preconceptions for this record whatsoever. To be honest, it had passed under my radar without so much of a blip with all the pre-press. ‘All Killer, No Filler’ was fun for what it was – a record choc-full of sillyness and hooks – while the following album didn’t really do all that much for me, what with a bit more of a metallic direction. However, when Island sent me a 6-track sampler for ‘Chuck’ I was very pleasantly surprised – so much so that I went out and bought a copy of the full thing.
Much has been made of Sum 41’s trip to the war torn Congo, where they came under fire from fighters and had to be rescued by UN advisor Chuck Pelletier, after whom this album is named. However, only one song was written after the trip, so the record isn’t as themed as some press people have made out. However, ‘Chuck’ is definitely a more socially aware record and is certainly more ‘mature’ than anything the band have done before. It’s also much, much heavier – which is a really big surprise. ‘No Reason’ positively rips from the stereo, with Dave Baksh’s shredding power really coming to the fore. Deryck Whibley’s vocals are still a bit of an acquired taste, but on this and the first single ‘We’re All To Blame’ he gets everything spot on. These are the best two songs Sum 41 has ever done, by a long, long way. The latter is also very scathing towards the US administration, which again is somewhat of a surprise bearing in mind the band’s previous ‘hits’.
What impresses me so much about ‘Chuck’ is that the band have managed to keep a lot of melodies here, without compromising any power. The drums hit hard and the guitars chug away merrily. ‘The Bitter End’ shows nothing of a band that once sang ‘Fat Lip’, coming across all Metallica like at the outset, while ‘Welcome To Hell’ sounds like NOFX covering The Offspring circa-1996. No shit. This is actually a really, really good three-chord punk song. There are faux-pas mind you – ‘Some Say’ is a bit too cheesy for me and is destined to be the ‘hit’ song that ultimately sells this album, while ‘Slipping Away’ is also a bit wet behind the ears. ‘Pieces’ is another track begging to be a single, but then this is a major label band that has to sell records. None of these songs are particularly bad, just a bit generic when compared to some of the other excellent efforts.
‘Chuck’ is great – it’s fun, heavy and melodic. Dispel any notions you may have gathered from their previous albums, this is a record you can secretly enjoy and still be ‘scene’.
www.sum41.com
Island
Paul
