PUP’s “This Place Sucks Ass” [Review]

It’s no secret that PUP is one of my favorite bands in recent memory. Earlier this year I reviewed their 3rd studio album, “Morbid Stuff”, after falling in love with it last year. While it’s still one of my favorite albums of all time, the band’s most recent album “THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND” is 1 year old next week so I decided to review the EP that was released between the two albums this week, with a review of “THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND” coming out next week.

Releasing on October 23rd, 2020, “This Place Sucks Ass” was released with positive reviews.

“This Place Sucks Ass” is a 6-track EP that is mainly made up of songs that didn’t make the cut for the band’s latest album out at the time “Morbid Stuff” as they were “too frenetic or too unhinged”. The title of the EP is a phrase that the band would use to describe a city or venue that they were playing while on tour.

The EP starts off with the track “Rot”. The aggressive guitar and vocals immediately put you on edge as the song really explodes when it hits the chorus. The singer is venting about their struggle with their negative thoughts and how they feel as if they’re “rotting on the inside”. The bridge of this track is what really gets me, as there’s a huge shift in the melody to focus more on the vocals. Knowing that they’re doing their best but still having some impostor syndrome is what this track is all about.

The absolutely electric track “Anaphylaxis” is up next, a song about, well, anaphylactic shock. In the press release, lead singer Stefan Babcock explains that the idea for the song came from his partner’s cousin getting stung by a bee and watching him panic and freak out as his head started to swell up. While he was fine in the end, his wife started making fun of him quite a bit even as they were headed to the hospital. The song, while about anaphylactic shock, is more about the fact that Babcock would start panicking over every little thing and thought that he was dying and that the world was ending. He found those overreactions funny looking back and that ultimately became the premise for this song. One of the best parts about this track is that the band tried to mimic the sounds of bees buzzing which can be heard at the beginning of the song and throughout.

“A.M. 180” is a bit of an odd one in the fact it’s a cover. Grandaddy’s “A.M. 180” was originally released in 1997 but became quite popular after it was included in the film “28 Days Later”. PUP adds their punk rock spin on the song, picking up the tempo a bit, all while staying true to the original track. The song itself is about wanting to keep in touch with an old friend, doing whatever together, just as long as they’re together. In the press release for the song, drummer Zack Mykula stated the following as to why they decided to cover the track: “Grandaddy are one of the unsung hero bands of indie rock. A best kept secret. I mean, forgive me for going ham, but this song is like a lily in an otherwise barren valley. An outstanding piece of songwriting, doing more with less than most any other song of the same caliber. So, that’s why we decided to cover it.”.

Continuing the trend of the more low-key tracks on this EP after such an energetic opening, “Nothing Changes” might just be the most emotional song on the project. It’s a breakup song, but one that reflects on falling back into old habits. While you may try to distance the things that may remind you of your ex, or try to mix things up, the singer finds themselves just lying in bed watching time fly by, trying to pick up a guitar, all they really need is just some books and alcohol to make it through until they’re ready to get back up on their feet.

“Floodgates” is a track about overdosing. The singer relents about the current state of their affairs, falling into old habits while dealing with their ambitions. While getting high, they felt as if they were going to die. After coming down from that high and realizing that they weren’t dead, they make a promise to themselves that they should “stay here just a little while longer”.

Ending off the track is “Edmonton” a relatively short track, but one that hits super hard. The instrumentals are bordering on metal just for a quick poem. It’s super aggressive, and with nearly all PUP songs, a cathartic release of energy. The lyrics really speak for themselves on this track, as many of PUP’s songs are about wanting to kill their friends or loved ones, but after missing a few birthdays or funerals, the gravity of the moment hit them.

Final Thoughts

“This Place Sucks Ass” is much noisier than “Morbid Stuff” and all of the tracks feel like they do belong on this EP rather than on that album. Despite its short stay, it’s a welcome one and while it’s definitely much more unhinged than any of their other projects, it still packs an insane punch.

Album Score: 8/10

Favorite Track: Anaphylaxis