PUP

Over the past decade, PUP have thrived on volatility. It's not really a joke when the Toronto punks release songs like “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” or put out albums called The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND. Though its four members are all best friends, creative dysfunction and interpersonal friction make their snarling and self-deprecating songs thrilling. To their shock and occasional dismay, it’s why their four albums are critically acclaimed and the crowds at their galvanizing live shows have only grown. It hasn’t gone off the rails yet but it definitely could. The possibility it could all blow up at any second is the band’s magic. Who Will Look After The Dogs?, PUP’s pummeling and cathartic fifth LP, is their most immediate, no-frills, and hard-hitting full-length yet. Out now via Little Dipper / Rise Records, it’s the culmination of their past decade of constant touring and their palpable, livewire chemistry. While it deals with dark thoughts, it’s not whiny. It’s actually the most hopeful of their catalog, finding frontman Stefan Babcock at his most reflective and vulnerable. Over 12 tracks, he excavates his life's relationships—romantic, with his bandmates, and most ruthlessly, his relationship to himself. Even if PUP weren’t entirely immune from jam-space spats and band-induced aggravations making this album, they scrapped their tedious perfectionism and rediscovered the joy of making loud music together. They truly had fun this time, we promise!