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.
Back Against the Wall
PUP Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your back's against the wall
If I ??
Might as well just burn it all
I don't listen much no more
I don't listen anymore, yeah they ask me why?
Your back's against the wall
If I ?
Might as well ?
I don't listen much these days
I don't listen anyways, yeah they ask me why?
Now you find out
Your back's against the wall
If I ?
Might as well just burn it all
Now we're ??
??
In the ?? I feel better than ever before
The lyrics of PUP's song Back Against the Wall convey a sense of desperation and hopelessness. The phrase "your back's against the wall" implies that the singer is in a difficult situation with no way out. The use of the conditional tense in the lines "if I [do something], might as well just burn it all" suggests that the singer has come to a crossroads and is contemplating taking a drastic action, even if it leads to destruction.
The repetition of the line "I don't listen much no more" emphasizes the sense of detachment and nihilism that pervades the song. The singer seems to have given up on trying to understand or engage with the world around him/her. The refrain "now you find out your back's against the wall" serves as a reminder that the situation is dire and the stakes are high.
Overall, the lyrics of Back Against the Wall paint a bleak picture of a person who feels trapped and disillusioned. The song's driving rhythm and intense vocals reinforce the sense of urgency and desperation.
Line by Line Meaning
Now you find out
Your realization occurs now
Your back's against the wall
You're in a difficult situation with no escape
If I ??
Unclear, no context provided
Might as well just burn it all
There's no point holding onto what you have if you're going to lose everything anyway
I don't listen much no more
I don't pay much attention to others anymore
I don't listen anymore, yeah they ask me why?
I don't listen to others, and when they inquire about it I don't have a good answer
Now you find out
Your realization occurs now
Your back's against the wall
You're in a difficult situation with no escape
If I ?
Unclear, no context provided
Might as well ?
There's no point holding onto what you have if you're going to lose everything anyway
I don't listen much these days
I don't pay much attention to others anymore
I don't listen anyways, yeah they ask me why?
I don't listen to others, and when they inquire about it I don't have a good answer
Now you find out
Your realization occurs now
Your back's against the wall
You're in a difficult situation with no escape
If I ?
Unclear, no context provided
Might as well just burn it all
There's no point holding onto what you have if you're going to lose everything anyway
Now we're ??
Unclear, no context provided
??
Unclear, no context provided
In the ?? I feel better than ever before
In this uncertain situation, I feel better than I have ever felt before
Contributed by Declan W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ZWWX1
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Ooh ooooh
Ooh ooooh
I don't listen much no more
I don't listen anymore, yeah they ask me why?
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Ooh ooooh
Ooh ooooh
I don't listen much these days
I don't listen anyways, yeah they ask me why?
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Now in hindsight, you, know we couldn't ask for more
In the limelight, I feel better than ever before
@rwsh6536
Just sound it out. It's not a 4 chorder, admittedly, but it's still fairly simple from a pure instrumental aspect. The first part of earring it out is the hardest part... despite that, given their style of music, it's still really striaghtforward. You what part Stefan is playing and what part of what ur hearing is Steve and which is Stefan. And if ur first thought is "I haven't trained my ear/I can't ear it out".
A) Everyone's ear isnt great at the start. You wont learn the song incorrectly or anything. It's just gonna take longer since you're ear isn't trained but ull get it still with dilligence. The only way to get a really good ear is to keep using it.
B) Yes u can. Anyone can train their ear, unless they have a frequency based hearing problem
follow this guideline, its how i did it when i learned and i still use it in concept.
(-) = This applies to earing any music not just this one.
(->) = how you would do it with this song
- First u need to differentiate who is playing what, specifically, in your head so that u know what part of what ur hearing is leads vs rhythm etc...
->PUP is convenient for this cuz they're a standard 4 piece band (1 drummer, 1 bassist, 1 lead guitarist, 1 rhythm guitarist, 1 vocalist. Usually rhythm guitarist and vocalist are the same guy but 5 pieces are common as well). You can tell the drums and bass apart from the rest without trying. The only thing that will take any effort is u need to differentiate, for every part of the song, what part of the guitare u hear is Stefan playing and what part is Steve playing. Like, I said not hard.
- Second. Now that u have ur part cut out for u neatly everything here on is straightforward. It's just time consuming, not hard. Take it note by note, if u have to sound out what ur hearing as u simultaneously compare it to notes ur playing until u find the right one... then move on to the next note/chord. It's jsut time consumption, but if u keep it up it ends up becoming very easy and fast to sound out music. Take note of these 3 things when u sound out something, If u don't ur not really learning the song, just aspects of the song...
1. what specific sound is being played (which note/chord). This one is obvious
2. What format of playing do they use to convey the sound? picked? plucked? strummed? tapped? sweeped? did they use a slide? Whats the strum rhythm or the pick pattern? etc... You cant just know what notes/chords they use. You gotta know how they used em.
3. How did they accent the sound. Did they hit it hard and raw or were they using softer techniques? Little whammy? A slow bend? Maybe an effect pedal? It goes on... Generating strong atmosphere is where amazing bands excel whereas "good" bands fall behind and get lost. U wanna generate the same feelings that the artist did
- Last. now that uve learned the tune, and hopefully so have ur bandmates. Practice playing ur part fluently first as they should as well. Once everyone is comfortable playing the hwole song on their own, practice as a band. Thats it just keep practicing.
All these concepts apply to the bass/drums as well. Good luck, shouldnt be the worst
@thedevilorwhatever
I'd have to say this is my favorite band of all time. I wish I had tabs to learn their music!!!
@thedevilorwhatever
Good old local music scene!
@l0stnam312
+Anonymous Animal true. But they are really good :) I wish this were more popular tho
@whomstisthis6126
If you want tabs, chordify does pretty alright at transcribing🤘
@will8647
greatest punk band of today's generation
@DavidRamirez-ue8gv
Hey guys, I found you quite recently, I'm from a small country in south america called Colombia, which is full of stupid pricks (lineup MVP is our president, he is te King of ass-heads) and we heavily, deeply and deseperatedly need music like yours...You have inspired me to grab a guitar an learn how to play properly, I'm starting a band this year, and I really hope that one day we'll be able to play at the same show in my country (yup, ya'll should think in playing a South american tour)...in this moment of my life everything kinda sucks, but you guys SAVED ME through your music...and I just wanted to thank you all Stefan, Steven, Zack and Nestor for saving my life during these dark days and isnpiring me to play punk rock in a band, this might be the most pure motivation I've ever had...Much love from a devoted fan here in Colombia <3
@oakoe188
What’s the band called?
@flopyavallay5037
¿Por qué sus canciones son tan perfectas?
@mrrock0ut821
No need to wonder why, just enjoy ! :)
@ZWWX1
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Ooh ooooh
Ooh ooooh
I don't listen much no more
I don't listen anymore, yeah they ask me why?
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Ooh ooooh
Ooh ooooh
I don't listen much these days
I don't listen anyways, yeah they ask me why?
Now you find out
Yeah, your back's against the wall
If I'm a burnout
Might as well just burn it all
Now in hindsight, you, know we couldn't ask for more
In the limelight, I feel better than ever before