PUP at Metro

PUP are a Canadian punk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 2010. Their acclaimed 2013 debut helped earn them a widespread audience both in and outside of Canada. PUP quickly became a touring dynamo with a larger label (SideOneDummy) behind them, and their quirky sense of humor and engaging songwriting played out over albums like 2016's The Dream Is Over and 2019's Juno Award-winning Morbid Stuff. They signed with Universal for their fourth album, 2022's The Unraveling of Puptheband, and created a denser, though still frenetic sound by experimenting with different instruments. Featuring Stefan Babcock on vocals and guitar, Steve Sladkowski on guitar and vocals, Nestor Chumak on bass and vocals, and Zack Mykula on drums and vocals, all longtime friends who met in elementary school, PUP formed in 2010 under the name Topanga. The original name was a reference to Topanga Lawrence, a character played by Danielle Fishel on the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World, but when the members learned Fishel would be reviving the character in 2014 in a spin-off titled Girl Meets World, they chose to change the name to PUP, standing for "Pathetic Use of Potential." Topanga released a digital EP titled Oceans, and positive press and attention from other bands helped create a buzz about the group. In 2013, they became PUP, releasing their self-titled debut album through the Royal Mountain label. The album was a hit with both critics and fans, with the group being named Best Live Show and Best New Artist by CBC Radio 3. The band toured extensively, playing throughout Canada and making their way to England and the United States. By the end of 2013, PUP had signed a record deal with the well-established punk label Side One Dummy, and spent much of 2014 and 2015 touring in support of Side One Dummy's reissue of their debut LP, launching their first headlining tours of the United States and Canada, as well as making their Australian debut. In February 2016, PUP teased a new single called "DVP" in advance of their second full-length album, The Dream Is Over. Released in May of that year, the album's title is a reference to a prognosis Babcock received from his doctor: he'd severely damaged his vocal cords after enduring years of non-stop touring. In true punk fashion, PUP used the doctor's glib comment as the rallying cry for another set of hard-hitting, self-deprecating punk tunes. The band promoted the effort with an international tour over the next year before returning to the studio to write and record a follow-up. They spent most of 2018 working on the album, which saw release in April 2019. Titled Morbid Stuff, the record was produced with Dave Schiffman (the Mars Volta, Weezer) and lyrically focused on Babcock's struggles with depression. A year later, PUP offered up their commentary on the state of the world with This Place Sucks Ass, a six-song EP whose title referenced one of their long-standing touring inside jokes. With COVID-19 putting a halt to live performances, the group returned to the studio in 2021 to record their fourth album. Produced by Peter Katis (the National, Frightened Rabbit), 2022's wild The Unraveling of Puptheband saw the group augmenting their normally guitar-based sound with synthesizers, piano, and horns. Biography by Mark Deming There is another artist using the same name: 2) PUP is a Chinese-Korean rapper.

Destroy Boys are an American punk rock band formed in Sacramento, California, in 2015. In 2017, they were nominated for awards in the 25th Sacramento Area Music Awards in the categories "New Artist", "Punk/post-punk" and "Teen" and in 2018 was the highest-voted contestant in Do The Bay's contest to play Noise Pop Festival. Their second album Make Room was included in Maximumrocknroll's top 10 albums of 2018. The band was formed by Roditis and Mayugba on 6 October 2015[5] as an acoustic project, intending for Roditis to play drums and Mayugba to sing and play guitar.[6] Their name was taken from the words that Mayugba wrote on her chalkboard at home during a period of relationship troubles.[7] They released their debut EP "Mom Jeans" digitally in 2015 with Roditis singing and Mayugba on acoustic guitar.[8] Not long after, Knight's mother said she would not continue paying for his drums lesson unless he joined a band, leading to him contacting Mayugba, whom he knew as the child of Phallucy guitarist Sonny Mayugba and the Skirts vocalist Lynn Mayugba.[9] She replied by sending him their EP, which he was impressed by, leading to him joining the group, and Mayugba moving onto electric guitar.[6] On April 6, 2016, via their former record label "donut warriors", they released the EP "Grimester", their first release with Knight.[8] On February 4, 2017, they released two singles, "Methatonin" and "Gold Medal".[10] Enzo Malaspina of Mt. Eddy joined the band briefly in 2017, as a bass player, recording on their second album and performing with them live,[11] later joined by his brother Chris on drums, after Knight's departure[12] They were nominated for awards in the 2017 Sacramento Area Music Awards in the categories "New Artist", "Punk/post-punk" and "Teen".[2] On February 4, 2018, they played at Submerge magazine's tenth-anniversary show, along with Sam I Jam, Horseneck and Screature.[13][14] On April 6, 2018, they released the singles "Crybaby" and "Vixen",[15] around this time Roditis began playing rhythm guitar live for the band.[16] In June 2018 they released the fifth single, "American River" from their second album[17] opened for Sons of an Illustrious Father at a sold-out gig at Chicago's Schubas venue,[18] and opened for The Regrettes on their "Come Through" North American tour.[19][20] On October 27, they played at the UC Theatre for Uncool Halloween III, with SWMRS, Bleached, Beach Goons, Mt. Eddy and Small Crush.[21][22] On September 27, they released the sixth single, "Soundproof", from their second album "Make Room", for which they announced the information at the same time.[23] "Make Room" was released on October 19, 2018,[23] with Joey Armstrong and Chris Malaspina sharing drum duties and Cole Becker and Enzo Malaspina sharing bass duties.[24] On January 24, 2020, they released the single "Fences", followed on April 23, 2020, by "Honey I'm Home".[25] On February 17, 2021, the band made their debut on Hopeless Records with the single "Muzzle", which appeared on their third LP Open Mouth, Open Heart on October 8 of the same year. Their fourth studio album, Funeral Soundtrack #4, released on August 8, 2024. The lead single, "Boyfeel", was released on June 6, 2024, along with an announcement of the upcoming album. The band's musical style has been categorized as punk rock,[29][18][30] garage punk,[13][7][15] hardcore punk,[31][3] garage rock,[32] rock and roll[33] and riot grrrl.[31][29][8] They cite influences including 1980s punk rock bands like Operation Ivy, the Misfits, as well as contemporary musical groups like Dog Party and much of the Uncool Records line-up,[8] in addition to Against Me, The Who, The Garden, Sleater-Kinney, Lady Gaga,[7] Mannequin Pussy, Deftones, the Distillers, Black Sabbath and the Police.[34] The San Francisco Chronicle described them as "equal parts hardcore and fun",[31] while having self-described their sound as "What would happen if Blondie stumbled into a Misfits recording session".[13] Roditis says their biggest influences vocally are Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Brooks Nielsen from The Growlers, and Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend.[6] Despite their frequent comparisons to riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill, the members of the band deny any associations with it, saying that they love the genre, but they shouldn't be categorized as it just because they're female-fronted.[33] Members: Alexia Roditis, Vocals Violet Mayugba, Guitar Narsai Malik, Drums Former Members: Falyn Walsh, Bass