Written by Jennifer Moglia
On Friday, October 23rd, 2020, Canadian punk favorites PUP released their latest macabre masterpiece, lovingly known as “This Place Sucks Ass.” This is their first appearance after their third full-length, 2019’s “Morbid Stuff.”
The EP is made up of songs deemed too unhinged for the previous album, a record literally about the end of the world, creating a home for these outcasts through the soundtrack to what has felt like the actual end of the world in 2020. The title comes from an inside joke among the bandmates, explains frontman Stefan Babcock; “It was a thing we used to say as a joke a million times on tour...literally any city, whether it was Lethbridge, Alberta, or New York City, we’d be like, ‘This place sucks ass.’ We have so much negativity, and sometimes it becomes so extreme and ridiculous that we start to find it funny. But at this moment in time, it feels so fucking real. Wherever you are, it sucks ass right now. So, wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, this is an EP about the place you’re from, and the place you're at now.”
Things kick off with track one, “Rot”, written and recorded this year, packed to the brim with angst, and frustration, all culminating in a cathartic chorus that makes you want to scream along with it; “Yeah, it’s just a part of me / That I can’t get away from.” Though it was the third song off of the tracklist to be released, it was accompanied by the EP announcement, which makes perfect sense; it encompasses the overarching themes of recklessness perfectly.
Track two, “Anaphylaxis”, the first song off of this project to be released, holds all of the same anger as track one, communicated through hard-hitting guitar riffs and percussion as well as a sing-song chorus that keeps your attention the entire time. A song about when you’re freaking out and nobody takes you seriously, its place on this EP makes it feel brand new, despite being out for six months already.
Up next is “AM 180”, initially put out in early August, a cover of the song by American indie-rockers Grandaddy, originally released by them in 1997. Since it’s one of the veterans’ most popular songs, I’m glad that PUP was able to truly do it justice; it works perfectly as a stand-alone song in their discography by using the classic PUP sound while keeping the same general message and feel of the original.
The next three songs are the “rejects” from “Morbid Stuff” that were revived for this release, starting with the borderline-groovy “Nothing Changes.” I was really surprised by the somewhat uplifting, hopeful-sounding ending, but it was a welcome shift on a darker-themed release.
“Floodgates”, the almost sinister-sounding fifth track, is a highlight here for sure, matching pleasantly sung melodies with gory lyrics like “I was certain I was a gonеr / It should have been me on the tablе / With the wires and the cables”, and “Feeling more depleted than I ever have / But instead of crying / Whenever I think of dying / It only makes me laugh / And how could I explain it to you when I don't understand it myself?” The continuing themes of frustration are certainly present here as well, especially in the lines, “I was lying through my teeth / Always saying it would be alright” followed with haphazard slams on piano keys to end the song.
Every EP needs a good closing track, and “Edmonton” is just that, a short song in which all of the unhinged, close to psychotic vibes from the rest of the release come to a head, as vocalist Babcock screams his way through some more frightening lyrics in just over a minute. It’s short, it’s the furthest thing from sweet, and it’s absolutely perfect.
All in all, “This Place Sucks Ass” definitely does not suck ass, joke completely intended; it’s a quick little sampler of sorts to keep us satisfied until the band has a new full-length out, super fitting for October with Halloween just around the corner. If you were a fan of “Morbid Stuff”, you’ll want to check this ramped-up version of it out as well.
PUP’s latest EP, “This Place Sucks Ass”, is available to stream now wherever you listen to music, and you can support the band by following them on Twitter @PUPTheBand as well as picking up some of their new merch, including picture disc vinyl, sweatpants, tote bags, shirts, tickets to their live stream show tonight at 9:00 PM EST, and more. If you gave this release a listen today, feel free to let us know if you think it sucks ass by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw.
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