4 out of 5

Produced by: Deryck Whibley

Label: Island

Oh, I know you don’t approve.  So, for the while that pop-punk was relevant – for the while that any limiting music ‘scene’ is relevant – reviewers and critics would have to approach the material in reference to what else was going on.  That’s not to say that groups like Blink-182 and the slew of groups that sprang up in their wake, like Sum 41, were lacking merit outside of the scene, just that, if you hate something, it’s easy to criticize, and the puerile humor and antics that were generally seen as part of the pop-punk generation generally caused people (including myself) to look down their noses at the groups involved, tolerating it while it was happening but secretly waiting for the popularity to end so they could more openly hate.

Blink-182 somewhat skirted around direct criticism for trying to ‘mature’ because it somewhat came about naturally.  I’m not a big fan of the band, but they were snotty kids playing snotty kid music who grew up while playing it, slowly bringing in some different styles and different lyrical themes that directly chronicled growing up.  That they gave off the snotty vibe up through ‘Pants and Jacket’ was just part of that chronicle.  And by the time of forced self-reflection brought on by fatherhood, they were bringing in Robert Smith and trying to tackle broader sonic sounds and lyrical themes.  (And then an 8-year pause.)  Mind you, the lyrics – whether about pee pee or the past – are still pretty simplistic, and just as the punk always (to me) felt like tattooed kids copping an attitude, the eventual inclusion of different styles and influences seemed the same: just a veneer.  But this isn’t a review about Blink-182.  Just drawing a comparison as they’re the fact with which Sum 41 is most often compared.

The difference being that Sum 41’s maturation hasn’t been nearly as accepted.  Which, due to the path blazed by Blink, could be said to be understandable, as Sum’s deviation from that path chart a group struggling to grow versus Blink-182’s more ‘natural’ evolution.  Sum and crew, skewing a bit younger than Blink’s members, fit (again, to me) more accurately into the punk scene in terms of attitude, which felt more fuck-off than juvenile.  The lyrics were still as simplistic, Whibley rarely stretching for an un-easy rhyme, and the topics of anti-authority were hardly surprising.  The music – while certainly radio friendly, and sharing many touch-points with the scene (including some hits recorded by Blink-182 conspirator Jerry Finn) – owed an equal amount to Slayer as it did to three-chord shenanigans, and that inspiration was a key component of Sum 41’s bridges and breakdowns going back to their first disc.  And by their third album, ‘Does This Look Infected?,’ the group was already kicking at the confines of genre labels, pushing the metal to the fore and looking beyond high school for song topics.  Where things started to go awry (in terms of a more even-keeled critical reception) was in going big-for-britches with the more political Chuck.  For all intents and purposes, this was still Sum 41, following the same fitful growth they had up to this point, further aligning themselves more with metal and rock than pop – but forever linked to pop-punk in the public’s perception, these snotty youngsters trying to tackle politics prompted eye-rolling.  Again, fully acknowledging Whibley’s limitations as a lyricist, it’s still an interesting comparison to the relative acceptance Blink’s corresponding ‘Jacket’ album received.  And then Deryck got married to fellow scenester Avril Lavigne, and then there was the radio bait of Underclass Hero, which back-pedaled stylistically while Blink-182 was working with the Cure.  (A different type of back-pedaling, in a way, but a much cooler one.)  So we feel free to say goodbye to Sum at this point, satisfied that we always knew they would fail and yadda yadda.

But one divorce later, we have Screaming Bloody Murder, which stands side by side with Infected? as a nigh-brilliant explosion and exploration of the group’s sound.  It’s not that I wish unhappiness on the guy, but we all know that love can be a killer for creativity (ALL WE LOVELESS TYPES KNOW THIS). Whib still isn’t the best lyricist, but he at least feels legitimately inspired again, the anthems fully recognizable and worth shouting along-to – although now almost exclusively limited to post-divorceisms – and he occasionally stumbles across a truly clever comparison or phrase.  The biggest impression here is simply how smoothly the group’s sound has transitioned to accommodating different styles, plugged into their thrashy punk, and how deftly Deryck handles production for the album, absolutely nibbing tips in composition and mixing from the Greg Noris and Finns that have graced the Sum boards in the past… and from himself, rounding out the way-too-even-keeled sound of Hero (which he also produced) with bright and raw edges all throughout ‘Murder.’  Whibley has also somehow found the time to become a seriously impressive singer, finding surprising range where we only ever previously knew him as shouty or slightly whiny.  And then the music.  ‘Time For You to Go’ has almost a Hives-ish immediacy, while ‘Baby You Don’t Wanna Know’ is like a latter-day Oasis track.  ‘Scumf*k,’ excusing the brash title, is one of the most head-bobbing pop tracks I’ve ever heard.  Almost every other moment on the disc is infused with inventive use of keys or unique bridges, fronted with incredible riffing and thrashing and noodling and everything else the band has always done well but now can do even better.  ‘Crash’ might be a little too precious, but works simply as a counterpoint to the surrounding volume, and some tracks – ‘Blood in my Eyes,’ ‘Jessica Kill’ – do fall back on the stock Sum 41 sound a bit too easily.  There’s also the indulgent codas to some tracks (the three-part ‘A Dark Road Out of Hell’ is definitely three distinct songs with some bumpy intro and outros tacked on) that seem to want to make it clear that this is a thematically-tied album, but the passion in the production goes a long way toward making these missteps incredibly easy to forgive.

And yet, take a look at the reviews out there – most were rather derisively critical.  Again, on some level, I get it.  But on another level, it’s unfortunate that it can be tough to see past the group’s origins to appreciate what its accomplished here.  The last few years have seen some excellent releases by groups others might’ve figured had disappeared by now.  It took me a while to get around to listening to ‘Murder,’ hesitant in the wake of ‘Underclass Hero.’  But I’m now fully back on board as a supporter of Sum 41, and excited – now that Whibs has hopefully gotten his marriage demons out – where he’ll take the band from here.