Sum 41 are a bunch of loud, brash, unbridled youths who burst out of Canada last year with their album, “”All Killer No Filler.”” Although singer Deryck Whibley, guitarist Dave Baksh, bassist Jason McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz may hail from the great white north, they have captured the sound and attitude of pure Southern California punk. They have a reputation for liking hard liquor, beautiful women and acts of mass destruction.
This Friday, along with Unwritten Law, they will bring the party to San Diego.
If the band’s antics seem a tad bit juvenile, perhaps it is because Sum 41 are just barely out of their adolescence; Whibley and Jocz formed the band while they were just high schoolers growing up in the suburban neighborhood of Ajax near Toronto.
Whibley, disillusioned with his mother’s new boyfriend, would often spend many nights writing songs in the back of his car. When he was 16, Whibley convinced Greig Nori (of the Canadian band Treble Charger) to take the band under his wing and into the recording studio. Although Sum 41 had their share of guitarists and bassists, Whibley and Jocz managed to score with Baksh and McCaslin, completing the Sum 41 lineup.
On the strength of their home video, a major-label bidding war ensued. The band settled on Island Records and released an EP, “”Half Hour of Power,”” in 2000, but their breakthrough success came with 2001’s “”All Killer No Filler”” and its first single, “”Fat Lip.””
After a year opening for blink-182 and appearing on MTV’s star-studded 20th anniversary special, “”Loud and Almost Legal,”” Sum 41 have progressed to their very own headlining tour with Poway’s own Unwritten Law along for the ride. The San Diego-based punk band has been absent from the airways since the 1999 commercial success of its song “”Caitlin.”” However, Unwritten Law will release a new album titled “”Elva”” Jan. 29.
Look in next week’s Hiatus section for an interview with the boys of Sum 41.
Look at the Hiatus calendar on page 12 for ticket information.