March 2002. By Daniel Martin

THESE four Canadian skate-punx are better than the Backstreet Boys at scrunching teenage Britain into the palm of their sweat-sodden hands.

Sum 41 rock. And kids want to rock so hard that for the final dates of their House Of The Rising Sum tour, they've sold out the Apollo twice over.

In little over an hour, Sum 41 demonstrate once more what people are only just beginning to realise. That metal is more than just an ironic style-mag phase - it's the most thrilling musical force currently enthralling young Britain.

This version of the revolution is a spangly gang of supercharged geeks, led by Deryck and guitarist Dave, kind of like Bill and Ted for the Slipknot generation.

Sum 41 are a stand-up comedy rock band. And it is brilliant entertainment. Ploughing through their smash album All Killer No Filler, it's all spiky, three-chord pop-punk, but melodic and infectiously punchy.

Singles In Too Deep and Fat Lip get the biggest bounces, obviously. But they still show range on Heart Attack's small-town confessional.

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