Hip-Hop Attitude, Punk Rock Energy Drives EL PUS' Revolutionary Hybrid Sound on Cutting Edge Virgin Records Debut 'Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1)'  
***
Fresh Off National Tour With Real Big Fish, Wild and
Raucous Atlanta Based Ensemble Hits The Road
Again With 40 Dates Opening For Counterculture Giants,
The Kottonmouth Kings
***
Video For Punk-Hip Hop flavored “Suburb Thuggin'”
Has Received Extensive Airplay on MTV2

Though their long in the works debut album Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1) is released by a major label, Virgin Records, the raucous and undeniably in your face Atlanta based band El Pus (pronounced POOSE) has the defiant attitude and DIY spirit of an indie—so much in fact that, by design, it's almost impossible to categorize their hybrid sound.

While some bands enjoy the formulas, the labels and predictability, El Pus—the vision of longtime friends Cufi (vocals, guitar, keys) and Cosmo (vocals, guitar, drum programming), along with bandmates C.J. (lead guitar), “The Woodchuck” (bass) and Young Pete (drums)—boldly shuns the categories, smashing all rules and regulations. Their debut is a glorious, ultra-aggressive, hard rockin' and groovin' hodgepodge of musical styles fluently expressed with hip-hop attitude and punk-rock energy.

If you want to explain the band's popularity, Cufi and Cosmo insist that you lose the Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit comparisons. “They're rock bands that found rap,” says Cufi. “That's not us. We went the other way.”

Whatever they're doing, however they're achieving that crazy-cool mix, it's taking them places far beyond their roots in Houston (where they met as college students) and their adopted hometown of Atlanta. Originally a regional sensation in the Southeast, El Pus spent this past summer playing for 1,000-2,000 fans a night as the opening act on Real Big Fish's 48-date tour. Fans who had never heard of them before the show were lining up in droves to buy their CD.

Returning from that tour—their first major national exposure as live performers—El Pus performed at five rock festivals (before crowds of 5,000-10,000) in Europe, including events in Switzerland (where they headlined), Sweden, Belgium and London. Now, they're about to spend October and November on the road with legendary freethinking, counterculture icons The Kottonmouth Kings, peforming as one of KK's opening acts on their 40 -date Supporting Radical Habits tour. The tour kicks off at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, California on October 13.

Their excitement and charisma extends to the visual realm as well. The video for “Suburb Thuggin',” an irreverent punk/hip-hop spoof on white suburbanite kids who try to act like boys from the ‘hood, received a ton of airplay on MTV 2 earlier this year. Though the song was not formally released as a single, a handful of modern rock stations across the country got word of it and spun it. Other tracks from Hoodlum Rock receiving attention are the party anthem “Monday Morning,” an inspirational joint (“Thing Thing,” which urges kids to be themselves and do what makes them happy, no matter how their peers perceive them) and the playful nostalgia piece “Days of the BK.”

Cufi explains the natural way he and Cosmo came upon their undefinable but undeniable sound. “The reason we called our debut Hoodlum Rock,” he says, “is that we wanted to define our own genre. When we first met, we wanted to be rap stars and were huge Public Enemy fans. We weren't thinking about rock, not till we started playing it later. Just when rap was reaching its golden era, the market got saturated and a lot of the groups started sounding the same. That's when grunge was getting out there, and we loved Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. Later, we caught up on classic rock bands like the Beatles, and these mixed influences laid the foundation for our future sound.”

Cufi and Cosmo officially formed El Pus (original name: Awkward Stylistics) in the late 90's, bonded by their mutual desire to create music that was progressive, energetic and uncompromising. Both wrote, rapped, sang and produced beats on early El Pus songs until their musical curiosity also led them beyond the traditional instruments, turntables and samplers of hip-hop. "We started to mess around with the guitar and the bass," says Cosmo. "We'd know how to play just enough to play into a sampler and loop it."

Soon after they started to play gigs around Atlanta—they'd eventually open for GZA (from Wu Tang Clan), Public Enemy, Kool Keith and Prince Paul—El Pus caught the ear of Speech, the former front-man of Grammy-winning rap group Arrested Development. Speech urged Cufi and Cosmo to record a demo, and set them up with studio time, money and resources.

But then like a key plot point moment out of a movie fantasy, something happened that would change the group's sound and direction forever: someone stole their sampler!

"We had booked a studio session to record our demo," Cufi recalls. "We had all our equipment in there and also some of the instruments we used. But mainly we were just working with the sampler. Whoever took the MPC left the guitar and bass. Cosmo and I just said F*** it. We had booked the studio time already. We called up a guy we knew to be a drummer and started to jam, me on guitar, Cosmo on bass. When we started adding vocals over it, we knew we had something."

They went on to record over 20 songs in that time period, rumbling jams that mixed a rock aesthetic, a soul groove, rap lyricism and punk energy. "I don't know what happened but it really worked," says Cosmo. "All of our songs are meant to be played loud and when we got the instruments in the mix, it translated that attitude that was underneath our songs the whole time."

El Pus was signed to its first record deal in 1999, when megaproducer Matt Serletic inked them to his Arista imprint Melisma Records; Serletic brought the band on board when he became president of Virgin Records.

As for their name (remember, it rhymes with LOOSE!): “El Pus?” Cufi says. “that just means “The Sh**!” “You know,” adds Cosmo, “the new kind of sound people are waiting for.” Back to Cufi: “Our energy is a mixture of pure ‘hood energy mixed with the natural energy of rock and roll. We're definitely black, but we play punk, rock and alternative music. At the end of the day, if you have 30 traditional rap rock groups and a band like ours, we're the one that's gonna stand out"

EL PUS 2005 U.S. Tour Dates

10/13/2005    Galaxy Theatre    Santa Ana, CA  
10/14/2005    Marquee Theatre    Tempe, AZ  
10/15/2005    The Rock    Tucson, AZ  
10/16/2005    House of Blues    San Diego, CA  
10/20/2005    Key Club    Los Angeles, CA  
10/22/2005    Crossroads@House of Blues    Las Vegas, NV   
10/24/2005    Slim's    San Francisco, CA  
10/26/2005    Loveland    Portland, OR  
10/27/2005    El Corazon    Seattle, WA  
10/28/2005    Big Easy    Boise, ID  
10/29/2005    In The Venue    Salt Lake City, UT  
10/30/2005    Ogden Theatre    Denver, CO  
10/31/2005    Sokol Auditorium    Omaha, NE  
11/02/2005    Playmakers Pavilion    Fargo, ND  
11/03/2005    The Quest Club    Minneapolis, MN  
11/04/2005    Memorial Hall    Kansas City, KS  
11/05/2005    Pops Annex    Sauget, IL  
11/06/2005    Intersection    Grand Rapids, MI  
11/08/2005    Bogart's    Cincinnati, OH  
11/09/2005    Newport Music Hall    Columbus, OH  
11/10/2005    House of Blues    Chicago, IL  
11/11/2005    St. Andrews    Detroit, MI  
11/12/2005    Mr. Smalls Theater    Millvale, PA  
11/13/2005    Peabody's    Cleveland, OH  
11/15/2005    Avalon Ballroom    Boston, MA  
11/16/2005    Webster Theatre    Hartford, CT  
11/17/2005    BB King's Blues Club and Grill    New York City, NY  
11/18/2005    Trocadero    Philadelphia, PA  
11/19/2005    Recher Theatre    Towson, MD  
11/21/2005    Chameleon Club    Lancaster, PA  
11/22/2005    Norva Theatre    Norfolk, VA  
11/23/2005    The Masquerade    Atlanta, GA  
11/25/2005    Fuel Nightclub    Daytona Beach, FL  
11/26/2005    Culture Room    Fort Lauderdale, FL  
11/27/2005    State TheatreSt. Petersburg, FL  
11/29/2005    Engine Room    Houston, TX  
11/30/2005    The Parish    Austin, TX  
12/01/2005    Galaxy    Dallas, TX  
12/02/2005    Green Door    Oklahoma City, OK  
12/03/2005    Sunshine Theatre    Albuquerque, NM

"We are crunk music - with amps and guitars," says Cufi, one fifth of the group EL PUS.

Move over, Lil Jon'. Step on this meteor, Linkin Park . How's this for a collision course, Jay-Z? This is the ultimate mash-up: the world of EL PUS (pronounced "El Poose"), the Atlanta-based band fronted by vocalists and producers Cufi and Cosmo, and also featuring lead guitarist C.J. (aka Johnny Rock), bassist "the Woodchuck," and drummer Young Pete. Their debut album,

Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1), is a hodge-podge of musical styles fluently expressed with hip-hop attitude and punk-rock energy.

Some bands enjoy the formulas, the labels and the predictability. But EL PUS defiantly shun the categories, smashing the rules and regulations of what music should be with a bold disposition.

"We like to mix sh** up," explains Cufi, succinctly.

Cufi and Cosmo first formed EL PUS in the late 90's. Their friendship – as well as their musical foundation – was built on a mutual love of a wide variety of music from N.W.A to Led Zeppelin. Above all else, they were bonded by a desire to create music that was progressive, energetic and uncompromising.

Both Cufi and Cosmo wrote, rapped, sang and produced beats on early EL PUS songs until their musical curiosity also led them beyond the traditional instruments, turntables, samplers, etc…of Hip-Hop. "We started to mess around with the guitar and the bass," says Cosmo. "We'd know how to play just enough to play into a sampler and loop it."

EL PUS started to play around the city of Atlanta , a place that embraces musical mash-ups. Soon, they caught the ear of Speech, the former front-man of Grammy-winning rap group Arrested Development. Speech believed in Cufi and Cosmo, urging them to record a demo and setting them up with studio time, money and resources.

But then something happened that would change the group's sound and direction forever.

"We had booked a studio session to record our demo," Cufi recalls. "We had all our equipment in there and also some of the instruments we used. But mainly we were just working with the sampler." When they entered the studio, they had discovered their sampler had been stolen. "They left the guitar and the bass and just took the MPC," he says. So the boys of EL PUS did the only thing they knew how. "We just said F*** it. We had booked the studio time already. We called up a guy we knew to be a drummer and started to jam, me on guitar, Cosmo on bass. When we started adding vocals over it, we knew we had something."

Those sessions would lay down the foundation for EL PUS. They went on to record over 20 songs in that time period, rumbling jams that mixed a rock aesthetic, a soul groove, rap lyricism and punk energy. "I don't know what happened but it really worked," says Cosmo. "All of our songs are meant to be played loud and when we got the instruments in the mix, it translated that attitude that was underneath our songs the whole time."

That versatility in sound starts with Cufi and Cosmo, who still write lyrics and music for their songs on instruments they play themselves. They recruited the Woodchuck on bass, C.J. on guitar and Young Pete for the drums, and the young virtuosos opened up a new dimension for the band, both in sound and attitude.

It certainly comes across in EL PUS' raucous live show, which has earned them acclaim, accolades, no less than half-a-dozen citations for noise violations and several proposals of marriage. "We get buck wild on stage," proclaims Cosmo. With a band of rambunctious musicians locked and loaded to fill out their sound, EL PUS was finally able to deliver their songs with all the unbridled electricity that they were intended to be.

That energized spirit also comes across on Hoodlum Rock , the group's debut album. The dozen songs include some of those songs recorded during their initial sessions, mixing brashness and humor and rebellious attitudes. While Cufi and Cosmo are of the Hip-Hop generation, the genre is only one variable in the EL PUS equation. They are not an MC-fronted band, nor are they a slick rap-rock hybrid. They intricately stir their influences together, arming their weapons cache with as many styles as possible. Mostly, EL PUS rocks.

On "Suburb Thuggin'," for example, the group pulls the card of those who front - the ones who act tough but aren't - weaving their irreverence over a big, punk-hip hop track. "We make fun music, it's not always being serious all the time." "Days of the BK's" finds Cufi and Cosmo reminiscing on the innocence of their youth. "It's just us remembering things we did as kids, the finer moments we had growin' up." Another song, "Thing Thing," extols the virtues of individualism wrapped in the sugary sweetness of a catchy pop ditty. "It's about doing whatever you want to do - do your own thing," says Cufi.

Of course, there is the lingering question of the group's name, which Cufi and Cosmo address with a welcomed simplicity. "EL PUS? That just means, 'The Sh**!" exclaims Cufi. Well, of course. EL PUS does their "Thing Thing."