Sum 41… there is no denying that they're destined to be compared to Blink 182 and just about every other mainstream punk (how's THAT for an oxymoron?) band out there until the spotlight fades off them and none of them are making any press anymore. But that's no reason to be playa hatin'!

Sharing the title to a Jerry Lee Lewis compilation, all the songs on All Killer No Filler follow a pretty simple patter. Fast guitars, faster drums, and more than likely a hook of some sort. The big hit here is "Fat Lip" a punk rocker that encapsulates some of their metal and rap influences more than anything else on here. Fun song, but I'm getting ahead of myself. "Nothing on My Back" is a fast rocker, too. More punky and less metal… "Never Wake Up" is a 50 second exercise in their sound, and it's pretty much their definitive song. Fast guitars, fast drums, like I said before, but its lyrics are JUST one line, unless something snuck by me. Rhythms…

…well, let me save myself the time of doing this song-by-song. They're all rockers, and the only departure from their sound is "Pain for Pleasure," which steals the intro from Metallica's "And Justice for All," and is more metal than anything here.

There isn't a bad song on here, but there aren't very many "great" songs. Actually, I take that back, there aren't any "great songs." It took me awhile to decide the "best song." "Rhythms" got it basically because it's punchy, memorable and has a nice chorus to it.

The band carries itself with the sound that made Blink 182 big, but they don't have as much of the self-deprecating humor. Not that they're ultra-serious or anything. They're just not going to have me busting my gut laughing like Blink 182 used to be able to do (right up until they cut that gawd-awful live album).

And that's the final problem with this album. There is nothing here that's really new. Some metal and rap flourishes aside, Sum 41 never does anything new (they put on a killer live act, though). To their credit, though, nothing that they do is really bad. And also to their credit, nothing here is overlong OR too short.

Basically, the band has some ways to go until they reach the level of acceptance that, say, Green Day has. Now, they're just average, and that's why the best I can give their album is an average score.