EP Review PUP - This Place Sucks Ass

Perhaps one of PUP’s greatest strengths is their ability to take on the darker moments of life, and transform them into punked-up rallying calls for the disenchanted. And looking back on a year like 2020, it feels like there’s never been a better time for a fresh injection of the Toronto punks’ spirit. Granted, three of the tracks from the rather aptly-named ‘This Place Sucks Ass’ may be taken from their 2019 ‘Morbid Stuff’ sessions, but their fiery spirit of fighting back is still very much relevant. “After the smoke cleared, I opened my eyes and I was still here,” sings Stefan Babcock on ‘Floodgates’, providing a real moment of clarity and catharsis, and a reminder that, no matter how bad this year gets - or quite how much this place sucks ass - PUP still have our backs.