Album Review: This Place Sucks Ass [EP] by PUP

This virus has taken so much from us, not least of all my right to break my nose in the pit at a PUP show. Way back in February, when COVID-19 was still just a scary headline to scroll past, I wanted, desperately, to hit their set in Peterborough, a small town outside of Toronto. (All the members of PUP hail from Hogtown, as do I.) But the last Greyhound back to the city would leave the station long before the show's conclusion: a one-two punch, usually, of "If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will" and "DVP;" unmissable.

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Toronto pop punk powerhouse PUP went into 2020 touring behind its most successful album yet, 2019’s Morbid Stuff. The record’s combination of catchy shout-along anthems and explosive, self-loathing ragers made it among the best punk records of that year, earning widespread critical and fan praise. Although the hard-touring band often plays more than 200 shows a year, with COVID shutting down the touring industry for the foreseeable future, PUP has almost certainly found themselves with some extra time on their hands.

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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.

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