Topanga

Topanga’s “Oceans” [Review]

Looking back at a collection of demos from one of my favorite bands

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the band PUP, I’ve reviewed nearly their entire discography at this point leaving only one studio album left. While I will get to their self-titled album in due time, I really want to take a look back at the band’s first-ever demo “Oceans”.

Back in 2010, the band that we now know and love as “PUP” went by the name “Topanga”. The name stems from a character from the 90’s show “Boy Meets World” who, according to the band was their “first middle-school crush”. However, with the announcement and release of “Girl Meets World”, the band decided to change their name to something lead singer Stefan Babcock’s grandmother said, getting “PUP” from the quote “Pathetic Use of your Potential”. With the name change came a few other changes, the big one being the shift in the style of music the band would play. “Oceans” has more of a lighter rock kind of feel compared to the band’s debut studio album “PUP” which really defined the band as a punk rock/pop punk band.

Stefan has expressed that many of the songs off of this album do not represent the band as they are now and as a result we shouldn’t expect anything else from this era of the band seeing the light of day anytime soon. Lucky for us, there’s archives of the songs online everywhere. While you can find many of the songs on YouTube, I’ll provide a link to the Internet Archive’s backup of the album.

While it’s hard to find an official release date for this record, we do know that it did come out sometime in 2012. According to Discogs, the first set of eight songs was released on June 6th, 2012 so we’ll be going with that.

This project was released in three different waves. The first two songs off of this collection were released as a 7” 45 rpm vinyl record, aptly titled “Oceans” with the A-side being the title track and the B-side being “Mabu”. This was released on February 15th, 2012 according to archives of the band’s Bandcamp page. “Oceans” is the title track and it’s well deserved. It’s probably the best song off of this group and it’s the one song I wish the band would do something with. It’s a short song that’s more chorus than anything else, but man is it good. It’s a bittersweet love song about being dragged down by your partner and the state of toxic relationships, something the band will continue to talk about in their future music. It sounds like an early PUP song and could definitely use some refinements but it really shows off the band’s potential. Everything from the drums to the vocals, and the sweet guitar solo give so much life to the track, it’s a real shame that we probably won’t be able to experience this song outside of archives online because it really is amazing.

Next up is the B-side of the band’s first release “Mabu”. This song is actually one that was released on the band’s self-titled album and we can consider this track to be a demo. This is one of three tracks on this collection that can be considered demos as the other two also appear on the band’s debut album with further refinements. “Mabu” is a song about Babcock’s family car called that was named “Mabu”. It’s a car that was owned by his parents and was passed down to his sister and then himself. It’s a love letter to the car that has gotten him through life and he shares many a memory with. Compared to the final version, you can definitely tell that the bass levels got punched up quite a bit. Babcock’s vocals are much higher pitched in this track and the song was only improved more in the official release. Despite that, it’s still a killer track and I’m glad that it made it to the self-titled release.

The next four tracks on this collection of songs were released under the title “Topanga EP” on December 7th, 2010. It was the first release of the band and according to the Bandcamp page, it’s a mix of folk and punk music. The EP was later titled “Lionheart EP”. The song “Lionheart” was the title track of this EP and like “Mabu”, it made it to the band’s debut studio album. Much like “Mabu”, the full release of the track punched up the bass and Babcock tightened up the vocals. Other than that this song is pretty much unchanged other than the additional vocals during the bridge. Babcock has expressed that he doesn’t really like this song as there’s no real meaning behind it, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of my favorites off of the self-titled album. While I do very much prefer that version of this song, this track is one of the most fun off of “Oceans”.

“Fogo Island” is one of the tracks that didn’t make it off of this set of demos. It’s the only song on this collection that features additional vocals that don’t come from the band. It’s another bittersweet love song where you can really hear Babcock pouring out his heart and soul into the track. The focus is on the ghosts of relationships past that the singer most likely had on Fogo Island, the largest island in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador excluding Newfoundland itself. It’s a very raw and emotionally charged track with some unique instrumentation in the trumpets. The additional vocals are a real treat here as well. This song is probably most similar to the track “Pine Point” off of the album “The Dream Is Over”.

The final track that made it off of this collection and into PUP’s modern catalog is “Back Against the Wall”. This track is relatively unchanged other than some tightening up. It’s the most punk/hardcore we see the band get up to this point. This is where we first see the band’s mentions of self-destructive tendencies and now that they’re actually making it as a band, they’re doing better than ever. There’s not much to this song but you can definitely see that this was the band’s foot in the door with the punk scene.

Closing out the “Lionheart EP” is “Whiskey and Water” a folk/country song. It’s very different from anything that the band is known for these days, but that’s what makes it unique. It’s one of the less memorable songs off of this collection as you really don’t expect it from the band. It’s another love song, but this one has the singer visit his grandparent’s graves as he reminisces on past relationships, wishing that they could’ve done a bit better with their now ex-partner.

There are only two songs left on this demo collection and these were released with the rest of these tracks in Japan on June 6th, 2012, at least according to Discogs. “Sick & Cold” is another very different track as it’s another folk-like song but with a pop twist. The vocalizing is a real treat here and the acoustic instruments are super fun too. With the addition of a bunch of guest vocals, it’s another track that would benefit from tightening up. The song itself is about how things didn’t work out too well in the past, and many things just haven’t been going the way they should, the singer feels hopeful for the future and is striving for things to get better.

To end off we get an acoustic song titled “The Shield”. Named after the “Canadian Shield”, a part of Canada defined by its rocky outcrops that date back millions if not billions of years, the song focuses on just going back to where you’re from and feeling at home when you’re back in the old stomping grounds. It’s another country/folk song by the band and it’s delightful. The acoustic guitars, the clapping, and the general merriment are something that you can really enjoy. The band obviously went in a completely different direction, but had they gone the more country route, I think they would’ve had a lot of fun with it.

Final Thoughts

It’s very clear why the band doesn’t really want to do much with some of the songs from this collection. While a few songs did make it to their first studio album, the only one that really gets played would be “Back Against the Wall” in live settings. There are some diamonds in the rough on this record and while they would be super nice to hear recorded now, the band has gone a different direction and that decision needs to be respected. Still it’s nice to see where the band started and how far they’ve come as true punk rockers.

Album Score: 7/10

Favorite Track: “Oceans”

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