 Sum 41 are obviously feeling the effects of overexposure, and the inevitable attacks on their punk credibility that a multi-million selling CD brings. To compensate, The Sums have ended up going down the same path as The Offspring when they followed-up Smash with Ixnay On The Hombre - they've gone and recorded a Bad Religion album.
Let me clarify this; Sum 41 have eschewed the day-glo pop-punk-rap attack of the likes of Fat Lip and produced what is - for the most part - a straight ahead So Cal punk album. As such, Does This Look Infected? sounds very 'authentic' but jettisons a lot of what gave the band their character in the first place. Go figure.
The Hell Song kicks things off, and it sounds like . . . well, Bad Religion. Or possibly The Offspring pretending to be Bad Religion. Damn, this is going to be a short review.
Over My Head (Better Off Dead) is more of the same, and it's like trying to review one of the torrent of NOFX clones that were so prevalent in the mid-90's. For better or for worse they all sounded like NOFX. Next. Actually, Over My Head (Better Off Dead) is one of the better tracks here. Like first single Still Waiting, what it lacks in originality in makes up for in tunefulness. Both tracks get under your skin, but only just . . .
The real killer here is My Direction. Pray that this is a future single because it would sit well next to Motivation and In Too Deep in a future greatest hits set. This track trades the straight ahead-isms for a dose of the pop-suss that Sum 41 do so well.
All Messed Up also manages to make the grade before the apparently Brit-only cod-metal silliness of Reign In Pain (Heavy Metal Jamboree) and WWVII Parts 1 & 2 round things up All Killer No Filler was a good album with a handful of very good tracks and one absolute belter in the shape of Fat Lip. Does This Look Infected? is another good album - albeit different from its predecessor - with a handful of very good tracks. No Fat Lip though. Shame. :: Rowan Shaeffer | 
