PUP Help Muffle The Internal Screams With New EP ‘This Place Sucks Ass’
Following their 2019 album Morbid Stuff, Toronto punk four-piece PUP were left with a handful of tracks that didn’t quite make the cut but still deserved to be heard. The result is their new EP This Place Sucks Ass, a fitting name for the group considering their history of cynicism, negativity, and raunchy realism.
With that harsh perspective on reality comes their fast-firing hooks and speaker-breaking gusto, founded on years of pent up frustration, anger, and resentment towards themselves, each other, and the world. And on This Place Sucks Ass, the tradition continues for yet another fantastic PUP release.
Named after the band’s inside joke about how every spot they’ve visited on tour prompts the reaction, “This place sucks ass”, the record’s cynical spirit comes out immediately with opener “Rot”. Although recorded this year, it sets things off with its gritty guitar strumming and sarcastic lyrics: “Why disguise my bad intentions? / I’ve got nothing to hide / Except the tendency to separate the part of me that’s feeling too desperate to die”.
Yep, sounds like PUP. And in true PUP fashion, “Rot” collides in the middle with its catchy hook and sing-along chorus about the negativity building up inside.
The EP continues into the buzzing single “Anaphylaxis”, a song written about a cousin-in-law who was stung by a bee at a cottage and his partner was poking fun at him the whole ride to the hospital. Once again, PUP don’t take chaos and pain seriously, and instead turn it into a frantic and frenzy hit with a mosh-ready melody and breakdown.
Including their cover of Grandaddy’s “A.M. 180” and “Nothing Changes”, there are loose moments of “hope” with the more uplifting, melodic riffs (not without being crushed through distorted guitars and bashing percussion). Of course, that ends quickly before slamming into the mudslide “Floodgates” and swiftly transitioning into the short-but-sharp “Edmonton”.
After all these years, the four friends are still continuing their streak of sounding like Hollerado’s younger, angrier brother – although I should really stop comparing them to other bands considering their unique and signature sound over half a decade later. More importantly, the group are giving people a cathartic and resilient piece of hope that’s loud enough to cover up any internal screaming. “Everything sucks and that’s OK, because it sucks for everybody,” says Babcock. “And we can make it a little bit better by being together in the shittiness.”
You can join the band with their upcoming first ever live stream recorded from Toronto’s iconic Sneaky Dee’s this Friday October 23rd, alongside the EP’s release.
Says the band about the livestream, “What can you expect from the livestream? Like most regular PUP shows, it’ll probably be a bit of a trainwreck, which is really all part of the magic. We don’t know if it’ll be any good, but we do promise it will be weird and different from any livestream you’ve ever seen. It’s being directed by our pal (and 5th member of PUP) Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, who has also directed almost all of our music videos. It will be fun and unhinged and entirely unprofessional. Am I selling it? I think I’m selling it.”
If you’re sold on it, you can get tickets and pre-order physical EP copies HERE.
As well, PUP are hosting a listening party to raise money for the mental health initiative The Trevor Project tomorrow (Oct 21) at 5PM EST (stream below).
This Place Sucks Ass is out October 23rd via Little Dipper Records/Universal Music Canada.
Track list:
01 Rot
02 Anaphylaxis
03 A.M. 180 (Grandaddy Cover)
04 Nothing Changes
05 Floodgates
06 Edmonton
