Watch Sum 41’s Vulnerable Acoustic Performances of New, Old Songs

Sum 41 recently stopped by Converse’s Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn to perform both an old song and a brand-new one in classic unplugged fashion. The band released their sixth studio album, 13 Voices, on October 7th.

For their newer selection, the pop-punk veterans stripped down recent single “Fake My Own Death” from its rough, thrashing original version into a tender, heartbreaking ballad. The acoustic run-through unlocks the vulnerability singer Deryck Whibley puts forth in his lyrics.

Later, the band went back to their early years with a cut from their 2002 sophomore album Does This Look Infected? The bratty “Hell Song” is nearly unrecognizable in their subdued acoustic update, which features tasteful harmonies on the chorus.

The band’s latest album marks Sum 41’s return after Whibley’s years of alcohol abuse sent him into a coma. “My whole brain felt like it reset,” he told Rolling Stone. “Even speaking was difficult because my motor skills were so fucked up. When I picked up the guitar I knew where my were fingers were supposed to go, but I couldn’t make them do it. It was almost like when I first learned how to play guitar at 13.”