Photos: Don’t Call It A Sum-Back Tour in Chicago
Sum 41’s much anticipated return to the Chicago club scene hit all the right notes on a Friday night in the city.
Sum 41’s much anticipated return to the Chicago club scene hit all the right notes on a Friday night in the city.
Stand up, underdogs: it’s time to fight back, and with 13 Voices, now we’ve got the soundtrack to march to.
Canadian pop punk favorites Sum 41 have announced that they will be playing select dates on this year’s Warped Tour.
Just before Sum 41 released “March of the Dogs,” a song from their upcoming Underclass Hero album, to iTunes, frontman Deryck Whibley posted a bulletin on the band’s MySpace page stating that, while the track is “lyrically … one of the more political songs on the album,” it was by no means indicative of Hero’s content, adding, “This will NOT be a political record.” And why would Whibley post such a caveat? Perhaps it has something to do with the intro to “Dogs,” a spoken-word bit in which Whibs declares: “Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass, the president of the… Read more »
Sum 41’s fourth album, “Underclass Hero,” has been set for a July 24 release via Island. The title track will serve as the first single and will be serviced May 15 to U.S. rock radio outlets. Another song, “March of the Dogs,” is available starting today (April 17) via iTunes. The group, which is now a trio consisting of vocalist/guitarist Deryck Whibley, bassist Cone McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz, has a handful of live dates on its spring and summer schedule, beginning May 4 at Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival. Sum 41 will also play five shows on the Vans… Read more »
When Avril Lavigne released album No. 2 in 2004, the spunky teen pop star announced to the world that she was growing up. Gone were the baggy pants and skater-chick image that first earned Lavigne the media-christened nickname of “the anti-Britney.” On that year’s “Under My Skin,” punky anthems like “Sk8er Boi” were replaced largely with grammatically correct, midtempo teen-angst rockers. The album was released a few months shy of Lavigne’s 20th birthday, and the black-and-white Goth imagery made it clear that Lavigne was dealing with some intense late-teen issues. Today, Lavigne is done with all that. On April 17,… Read more »
Avril Lavigne declared in a Web post late last year that her next LP, The Best Damn Thing, would be “fast, fun, young, bratty, aggressive, confident, cocky in a playful way … all the good stuff.” In case you didn’t believe the “fun” part, the singer recently told MTV she had an absolute blast recording the effort . She didn’t labor over songs, didn’t write any serious ones – well, OK, just a few – and made sure to indulge herself throughout the process. “This record, I’ve never had so much fun in the studio,” the singer said. “We would… Read more »
Toronto, Ontario – Oh, Sum 41, how far you’ve come. Despite this show making up for a previously cancelled one, Ajax’s favourite sons were greeted by a full house of hardcore kids, girls in tiny tube tops, drunken frat boys and little pop-punkers firmly protected by a designated parent. One had to wonder whether those parents were routinely covering their poor child’s ears, given all the less-than-all-ages language that was being tossed around. “Sorry Mom, sorry Dad, your kids are going to be learning some new words tonight!” An appropriate warning coming from frontman Deryck Whibley, who would proceed to… Read more »
The nonstop party that is the life of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee for about the past 20 years gets cranked up several notches on his upcoming solo album, Tommyland: The Ride, which is due in August. And although he knows it’s a cliché, he swears the album is the best thing he’s ever done. “It’s true, this is the best thing I’ve ever done!” Tommy yelled from a stop on the Mötley Crüe reunion tour. “I mean, people will be like, ‘Is that f–ing Tommy?’ It’s like an event record.” That much is true, as Tommy has invited a… Read more »
Sometimes it’s hard to keep it real, and there’s probably no place where that’s more true than in Sum 41’s surreal new video. Their clip for “Pieces,” to be shot by director Brett Simon this weekend, plays with notions of perception and perfection, while also poking fun at the idea of the music video as a commercial. The treatment suggests that Sum 41 have found the “clever” idea they said they were having trouble coming up with. According to the treatment, frontman Deryck Whibley sits in a La-Z-Boy chair in a drably colored apartment while the world outside appears to… Read more »