About
Sum 41 are from Ajax, Ontario, but their pop-punk sound is straight out of California. The trio -- vocalist-guitarist Deryck Whibley, bassist Cone McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz -- started in 1996 as a NOFX cover band and later started writing its own material and charting Green Day and blink-182 territory. The band soon earned a contract with Island Records, and their debut album, Half Hour of Power, was released in the summer of 2000. Their 2001 follow-up, All Killer No Filler, produced by Green Day and blink mix-master Jerry Finn, yielded two of the band's biggest hits -- "In Too Deep" and "Fat Lip" -- and went to the top of the charts. A year later, Does This Look Infected? brought a harder edge and a hip-hop influence, and featured the hit "Thanks for Nothing." In 2004, with Chuck, Sum 41 took on a more serious demeanor after a traumatic experience in war-torn Congo, where they had to be rescued by U.N. peacekeepers. "We're All to Blame" was an indictment of the West for its apathy toward Congo's genocide. After a hiatus -- and the departure of guitarist Dave Baksh -- the band returned in 2007 with Underclass Hero, its highest charting album to date (at No. 7).
- Dan Shumate
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