T.P.U. demo and 7"

      I chanced upon this blog purported to highlight the Arizona hardcore punk scene.  I recommend giving it a look see. I found the Plain Wrap record there which was a phenomenal score.  Upon further inspection I found this T.P.U. 7" and the T.P.U. demo available to download which came as a real surprise.  The closer I look the more I see this blog isn't isolated to just Arizona music.  It's cool.  Their heart's in the right place.

      I have a vague recollection of T.P.U. and it mostly centers on the Hardcore show which aired on 91.5 KUNV in the late 80's.  I recorded this record off the radio and I guess I listened to it more than I thought as these songs were instantly recognizable.  

      Even as a teenager I remember thinking the lyrics were retarded.  Still it holds together at least as much the other dumb ass bands featured on this blog.  They lose points for the Skrewdriver shirt and white headband the bass player's wearing but they make up for it by prominently featuring the water heater in the background of the cover photo.

      I'm limited in what I can add here.  I knew of Amoeba, the guy with the Skrewdriver shirt, from hanging around the drinkin/druggin punk scene back then.  But I only knew him on the surface much like the rest of the scene I was hanging around.  If I wasn't drunk, stoned, or wacked out on acid or pcp  I was actively trying to score those drugs so I  have a hard time remembering names.  I don't know the other people in this band.  Or maybe I do?  The End.  

     Couldn't tell you what T.P.U. stands for and I don't think I ever saw them play live although I might've been trippin while they were playing right in front of me.  

     Lyrically I thought they were dopes but hindsight makes the delivery of most if not all these songs seem tongue in cheek.  Although maybe they really are idiots?  The music is infectious and it really puts me back to when I was stupider and eaily amused although not so easily lead astray.  I first heard these songs at a time when I was desperate to hear punk music of any flavor.  I was eagar to lap up anything that could be construed as punk at that time as it wasn't the easiest thing to find.  Turns out I played the recording of this 7"over and over again even if it was ridiculously stupid.  Sample lyric: "It's the best feeling you can ever get/ kickin peoples asses and gettin away with it/ ha ha ha ha! Anarchy!"

     That's some retarded bullshit right there but you can dance to it which was enough for me, for a little while anyway.  Back then I thought the song Desert Party was called Stag Party which made me think it was the dumbest macho song I'd ever heard in my life.  It still comes across as Frat Rock but now that I know what the real title is I feel a little more connected to it.  I hear a slight English punk influence here.  Lot's of buzzsaw guitars ala GBH/Vice Squad/Varukers or any of that spikey punk and disorderly shit that came out of the UK in the early 80's.  Yep I had punk hair.  I dyed it black.  I smoked.  

    The record has a lot of personality.  I'm seriously diggin it.  Obnoxious punk crap that was a precursor in some ways to the snotty sound FYP was throwing down in the mid 90's.  Shit, I almost hear a little Celtic Frost or Hellhammer sound in there as well but it's probably just them buzzsaw guitars making me think that way because no one would mistake this for Metal.  Reminds me a little bit of the band Filth who were gigging in the East Bay around the same time or even Grimple who would be coming down the pike a few years later.  I'm not saying T.P.U. was as good as the above mentioned bands but if you're at all familiar with any of the names mentioned above then you'll probably like this record.  The jokes about Reagan make this a must have for 80's Hardcore purists.  If such a thing exists.      

     The record came out in 1988, and seriously?  Only 100 copies pressed?  That seems like a waste but maybe records were cheaper to press back then?  I saw this record for sale at the Underground and didn't buy a copy because I knew I had it recorded on tape at home.  I won that round!  Released by Chapter III Records in Arizona in 1988.  At that time I was a junior at Eldorado High School.  I lived across the street from the entrance to EHS at 1114 Linn Lane.  My front lawn was the smoking section.  That was a lifetime ago.  

     I'm glad I stumbled onto this little hardcore side note.  I didn't think I was as much of a fan as I am.  Go figure.  It's still dumber than dirt.  But hey- all we had back then was dirt.   

     Learn more from the AZ blog, it's worth checking out, plus you can find out more about Plain Wrap who are keeping me in stitches these days now that I found their whole record.  The T.P.U. demo is included in the download as well.  The links below are to download direct from that blog.  If it doesn't work for you let me know I'll try and upload the files I got.  

Download T.P.U. Noise 7"
Download T.P.U Demo tape

From the horse's mouth T.P.U.'s myspace page.