With news that Sum 41 will finally be hanging up the guitars after 27 years together, it only felt right to dust off All Killer, No Filler and take it for a spin this week. This was the album that started it all for the Canadian punk rockers off the heels of their massive hit single “Fat Lip”, which basically was requisite listening if you owned a skateboard or had a studded belt in the early 2000’s. It was punk-rap at its absolute finest with roaring guitars that went heavy and hard.
All Killer, No Filler is a great guitar album. From the opening riff of “Nothing On My Back” (a song that even 20 years later gets me going) to lead guitarist Dave Baksh’s solo of “In Too Deep” there are some brilliant moments on here. Sum 41 was always tagged as a pop punk band in the early aughts, and while that was sort of true at the time, one thing I’ve always appreciated about them is their fondness for metal. As they sing on Fat Lip “Heavy metal and mullets, it’s how we were raised / Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised”) and the album closer “Pain For Pleasure” is their ode to that genre and it totally rocks. In another universe Sum 41 is likely working the underground circuit as a full blown hardcore metal band, but we’re lucky to live in a world where they fused that genre with pop punk to deliver a release as strong as All Killer, No Filler.
Shout out to my fellow middle school skate punks and the glory of five stair kickflips. This one’s for us.
Standout Songs: “Fat Lip”, “Nothing On My Back”, “In Too Deep”, “Heart Attack”
