This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
It’s good to see that success hasn’t spoiled Sum 41 — they’re just as rotten as they’ve always been.
I mean that as a compliment, of course — and I can only assume that’s the way this Ajax, Ont., foursome would take it. After all, if any band these days gleefully toe the line between smartass and dumbass — without knowing or caring about the difference — it’s these guys. And their second full-length Does This Look Infected? picks up right where last year’s breakthrough All Killer No Filler left off, with the boys spiking up their hair, stomping on their distortion pedals with their Vans sneakers and worshipping at the twin altars of Iron Maiden and Green Day on a slate of metal-flaked punk-pop snot-rockets with titles like The Hell Song, Billy Spleen and Hyper-Insomnia-Para-Condrioid. Once you get past all the Whoopee cushions and SuperSoaker pranks, the lyrics to cuts like My Direction and Still Waiting actually contain (gasp!) some serious messages about teenage suicide and the evils of racism. But don’t worry, kids — there are still more than enough plastic vomit and fart jokes to justify the Parental Advisory sticker on the front. Luckily, there are also more than enough super-sized hooks, bubble-punk harmonies and singalong choruses to make Infected highly infectious.
