Saturday, November 22nd
@ 7:15 PM

When rambunctious rockers Simple Plan released their 2002 Lava Records debut, “NO PADS, NO HELMETS… JUST BALLS,” the band more than just hit the ground running. Just inside of a year, Simple Plan crossed five continents and played over 2000 shows. Along the way, the band picked up a few million fans, topped the Alternative New Artist Chart, kicked it to #1 on MTV TRL, scored Platinum albums in the U.S., Japan, and their home country Canada as well.  Sprinkle in a few trips to the hospital, a dozen nights spent sleeping on airport floors, one tour bus in a ditch and one broken-down in the desert and the method to madness becomes clear…this band is absolutely pummeling the pavement. And that’s the edited version.

This zest for life is what went into making “NO PADS” sheer punk pop fun. The album, produced by Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace, Finger Eleven), features 12 irresistible anti-anthems of adolescent alienation, such as the effervescent, “I’m Just A Kid,” the hearty shout-it-out-loud “I’d Do Anything,” and the extremely addictive “Addicted.”

Rewind for a minute to the mid-90s, when singer Pierre Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau were 13-year-old bandmates in Reset, a loud and fast punk outfit who released a much-praised debut album in 1997 and toured Canada with the likes of MXPX, Ten foot Pole, and Face To Face. Soon, both had left Reset, first Chuck, then Pierre, to initially go back to school. Not so fast there. First Chuck was drawn back to music and hooked up with high school friends and guitarists Jeff Stinco and Sebastien Lefebvre. Add in singer and old band buddy Pierre and another former Reset member, David Desrosiers on bass, and Simple Plan was born.

Simple Plan’s expertly crafted tunes are predominantly penned by Chuck and Pierre, then brought to life by the entire band.

“Jeff will come up with lots of rad guitar leads and textures,” notes Pierre. “Seb is great at helping out with the arrangements, and David always has good ideas with harmonies.”

Despite the manic pop thrills of tracks like the Ferris Bueller worthy sing-along “Worst Day Ever” and the powerful “God Must Hate Me,” Simple Plan’s songs are marked by a strikingly dark lyrical core.

“After writing most of the record, we realized that we had a bunch of catchy songs with really emotional lyrics,” Chuck says. “We thought it was such a rad contrast. There’s lots of people out there who are not really satisfied with what’s going on in their lives, and it’s the same thing for us. It’s so hard to grow up and fit in.”

“We know what kids go through, because we’ve been through that, and we’re still going through it, so we know how hard it is.” Pierre agrees. “We want kids to feel like we’re talking about them and for them. It’s such a good feeling to receive a letter or an e-mail from someone who relates to our songs and says “Damn, you’re singing about exactly what I feel.’”

next: Simple Plan's band-to-fan connection »