The TOPANGA EP
Our terrible first recordings. Yucky.
Here’s some More Bad Stuff for you. Day one, we’re already getting embarrassing as hell. This EP has been long since buried. Before being called PUP, we used to be called Topanga. This is our first ever, self-titled EP. We recorded most of it in our friend Mitch’s basement, some of it in Nestor’s cousin Yogi’s basement, and a couple little bits in a super nice studio our friend Marcel snuck us into after his boss left for the night.
The EP sounds like us, but a lot worse. It used to be the 4 of us and our friend Rachel who plays trumpet and sings a bit on this EP. She’s wonderful. Anyway, here are the first 4 songs, the very beginning of PUP before we were PUP.
Two of these songs would go on to be on our first LP, although these are pretty different versions. The other 2 kinda melt my mind when I listen to them, because they sound like a totally different band.
I hadn’t listened to any of this in over a decade until today. And I’m realizing some stuff. First of all, we were obsessed with “whoas”. Literally every song on this EP has “whoas” in it. Embarrassing. Also, the lyrics are so. fucking. bad. Sorry.
But despite the cringe, I can hear us figuring out the kind of band we would eventually become. It’s like watching a toddler learn to walk, this is us stumbling over something that might eventually be good, but actually falling flat on our fat dumb baby faces. As much as I hate this EP, I can hear the stuff I love about PUP peeking around the corners and that’s pretty special to me.
I originally imagined this band as way quieter, because I was writing acoustic guitar songs alone in my bedroom. The other guys humoured me for this one EP, but after that things just got louder and louder in a way that we were all excited about. It’s funny how bands work. You start off trying to be one thing, and as everyone’s tastes meld together you end up somewhere completely different than where you thought you’d go. It’s kinda the magic of being in a band. The truth is, PUP could never be PUP without all four of us passive aggressively forcing our tastes on one another to the point that we want to kill each other. It’s a beautiful thing.
I hope you like these songs. Or hate them. Actually I don’t know what I hope for. This shit is embarrassing, but these are also the first handful of songs we wrote. So of course they suck. Honestly, when we were writing them, we assumed we’d make one EP, play a couple shows in our friends’ basements, then get on with life. Kinda crazy to be here so many years later, having toured the world and made a whole career out of this thing. We’re very lucky. Thanks for being a part of it.
TRACKLIST:
Lionheart (original version)
Fogo Island
Back Against the Wall (original version)
Whiskey & Water