Sum 41's mayhem eclipsing its music

ROSS RAIHALA, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, January 25, 2002

Not too long ago, Sum 41 couldn't get arrested if they tried.

But after a year of incessant touring (including a Tuesday stop in Seattle) and endless self-promotion, the Canadian foursome are next in line to take over the "young, dumb and ugly" crown that Green Day founded and blink-182 kept shining.

Sum 41's debut "All Killer No Filler" has sold more than a million copies. And in a surprising move that may suggest the band has particularly faithful, ballot box-stuffing fans, Sum 41 performed strongly in Rolling Stone's 2001 readers' poll. They were second choice for: Artist of the Year, Best Band, Best Album, Best Album Cover, Best Hard Rock/Metal Band, Best Rock Artist, Best New Artist, Best Dressed and Best Online Fan Site.

Whew.

Perhaps that explains why drummer Steve Jocz recently said: "We are a band you will probably have to bail out of jail sometime."

Jocz and vocalist/guitarist Derick Whibley grew up in a distant suburb of Toronto. They each played in a variety of other bands, but ended up together as Sum 41 with guitarist Dave Baksh and bass player Cone McCaslin.

Eager to attract the attention of an American record label, the young men compiled a videotape that documented their life.

Jocz once explained it as such: "We used to get bored in our hometown, so we used to videotape ourselves driving around and terrorizing people, spraying old ladies with water guns, egging houses and breaking stuff."

The band put that footage to music and shipped it off to several major record labels and, soon enough, there was a veritable bidding war to win the hand of Sum 41.

"We had no idea this was going to happen, because we had just (talked) to a lot of indie labels and been turned down," Baksh told one reporter. "And the majors just kind of jumped on it and it basically led to an open bar for a month and a lot of drunken nights."

Island ended up signing Sum 41 and, after a low-key 2000 mini-album, the band unleashed "All Killer No Filler," a record that combined the energetic sound of Green Day with hip-hop and heavy metal influences.

The All Music Guide praised it as "punk-pop with a razor-sharp edge, the sort of dynamic in-your-face sound that helps this music cross over to MTV and radio so well."

Stints on the Warped and MTV's Campus Invasion tours sent Sum 41 careening back and forth across the country and quickly earned them a reputation as hard-living party boys with a penchant for property destruction.

And in a savvy -- if ultimately sad -- move, Island president Lyor Cohen has encouraged Sum 41 to wreak havoc. As Cohen told Rolling Stone: "I want (them) to go out there and ... enjoy themselves, we'll pick up the trail of mayhem."

For its part, Sum 41 plans to "abuse" its newfound popularity and success.

As Jocz told Rolling Stone: "My resolution is ... to be arrested next year at some point, and I want to go f------ crazy. Just don't tell my mom. We'll keep it a secret."

Sum 41

- When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29.

- Where: The Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle.

- Tickets: $15.50.

- For information: Call Ticketmaster Northwest at 206-628-0888.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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