Pop-Punk is a genre that is very easy to poke fun at. The ‘stereotype’ of the genre is that bands aren’t very talented, have somewhat immature lyrics and the music overall is aimed, or at least appeals to insecure people in their early teens. There are many bands that fit this stereotype; these bands are usually more popular than others and at the same time are the most derided by fans with a more ‘mature’ taste in music. It goes without saying that pop-punk bands don’t usually garner too much respect from older generations, however Canadian quartet Sum 41 are one of the most respected bands in the pop-punk genre. This is mainly because they are one of the better pop-punk bands and are not aimed at pre-pubescent boys and girls. Also, they are very good musicians (compared to others in the genre) and mix in other influences well. These other influences include metal, rock and rap; making them stand out from the much-congested pop-punk herd.
The album begins with an 80’s metal influenced introduction:
‘Grab The Devils By The Horns And *** Him Up The Ass’. The song is an instrumental save for the impassioned cry of “Yeah!!!” that just adds to the energy. Right from the beginning you know that this won’t be a typical pop-punk album, having witnessed a talent superior to other pop-punk bands, and the band displaying other, more ‘respectable’ influences. The bands musical ability is demonstrated well throughout the record, with Stevo 32 on drums, and more notably Dave Brownsound on guitar, particularly standing out. Stevo has a drum solo in the song
’32 Ways To Die’. It is a fairly well built solo, but had the song been longer he would have no doubt had more time to show off, as although the 1 minute 30 seconds available is used well, Stevo has to jump in rather early, and doesn’t get a chance to show off his true ability. Dave has guitar solos scattered throughout the album, and all of them are far better than what you’d expect from a pop-punk band. The best solo is found on
‘Machine Gun’ which is perhaps the best song on the album, and has since become a live staple and fan favourite. It begins with a short drum roll, and leads into a booze, or more specifically, hangover-fuelled verse. Like the other songs on the album, it is short but still manages to fit in quite a lot. In this case the song contains two verses and choruses, the aforementioned guitar solo and a bass-heavy breakdown that is punctuated by a melody made up of “na-na’s”.
There are plenty of great songs over the half-hour (of power), but it is a shame that there are some not-so-great songs, and these tend to pull the rest of the album down. However, the great songs marginally outweigh the weaker ones, and although the album suffers from the weaker moments, it doesn’t suffer
too much. Usually within the pop-punk genre, albums suffer from the creatively titled, and just-now-titled
‘Second-half-of-the-album-is-weaker-than-the-first-half-of-the-album’ syndrome; that isn’t the case here as ‘good’ songs and ‘bad’ songs are interspersed evenly throughout.
‘Weaker’ songs on the album include:
’What I Believe’;
‘Dave’s Possessed Hair’ and
‘Another Time Around’.
‘Dave’s Possessed Hair’ is essentially a poor attempt at the more punk end of the spectrum, but luckily it leads into the fantastic rap of
‘What We’re All About’. Normally rap within the confines of ‘pop’ music is made fun of quicker than the lifespan of most flavour of the month pop-punk act’s, but here Sum 41 get away with it - firstly because it is actually a half-decent rap; and secondly because it is done with tongue firmly in cheek. It takes a swing (or in Sum 41’s case – a
‘happy-slap’) at The Offspring’s pop-punk/rap styling of ‘Pretty Fly For A White Guy’.
Fortunately, such failings are made up for by songs such as
‘Makes No Difference’ . It immediately grabs your attention with a catchy, yet simple guitar riff which is then imitated with more complexity. The lyrics/vocals are even more infectious, but unlike other pop-punk bands you don’t feel stupid when you are singing along. The song later resurfaced as a bonus track on sophomore album ‘All Killer, No Filler’, and the track that succeeds it-
‘Summer’ managed to make it onto the album itself. This is because it is such a great song! As it’s name suggests it sounds very summery and upbeat, and this by no means a bad thing, especially when it is pulled off as well as this. Again, it is as catchy as you would expect pop-punk to be, especially with it’s pre-chorus of “woah”’s. There are also unexpected derivations from the pop-punk formula, for instance the ska section in
‘Second Chance For Max Headroom’. It offers a very nice change of pace, and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face as the brass section is pulled off so well.
Since their second album (wrongly) claims to have “No Filler” you would assume that this one does have songs that many would dismiss as ‘filler’ – you would be right to assume this. Sum 41 have made a habit of having at least one stupidly quick song on their albums, and this album is no different.
’T.H.T’ or Tables Have Turned is ‘Half Hour of Power’s stupidly quick song; and while it isn’t hard to imagine it causing great excitement in a live setting, here it just falls flat. Also, clocking in at only 43 seconds, it is essentially over before it even begins. This is kind of true for the album as a whole – ‘it is over before it begins’ – as it only lasts half an hour, exactly half an hour to be precise. This is achieved by adding a minute or two of silence on the end of final track
‘Another Time Around’, so in actual fact the album is actually
less than 30 minutes long.
Although ‘Half Hour of Power’ is Sum 41’s poppiest, most ‘mainstream’, most accessible album, it is by no means simple, standard pop-punk as by fusing influences such as metal, rock, rap and ska; they have made pop-punk of the least generic kind, and it is certainly very enjoyable. By adding these extra influences they have earned respect, and it certainly is well-earned as the band have been very consistent since this, their strong, debut release. However, the album is hindered by a few weaker moments, but fortunately is dragged up by great songs such as ‘Machine Gun’, ‘Makes No Difference’ and ‘Summer’. Even better is the fact that the good songs outweigh the bad, and the result is a pretty good, respectable pop-punk album.
