Formed in Toronto five years ago, PUP - comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladowski - quickly became favourites of the punk scene with their first two, critically beloved albums, winning accolades everywhere from the New York Times to Pitchfork, from NPR and Rolling Stone, and more.
Now, with Morbid Stuff, PUP have grown up and doubled down on everything that made you love their first two records. It's gang's-all-here vocals, guitarmonies, and lyrics about death. Lots of them.
Fitting to their ethos, their new album takes the dichotomy of fun and emotional wreckage in their songs and teeters between gleeful chaos and bleak oblivion while wielding some of the best choruses the band has ever written. Morbid Stuff is also a pretty intense foray into singer Stefan Babcock's fight with depression, and shows, in perfect PUP fashion, how taking responsibility of his own depression led him to laughter. Admitting his depression allowed Babcock to laugh in its face, and the result is that marriage of darkness and joy that made PUP who they are, but in a brand-new way.
Indeed, despite its dark subject matter, at times Morbid Stuff is funny as hell, even in the music. It's the most insightful, sweetest, funniest, sickest, angriest, saddest, and most inescapably desperate collection of songs they've recorded to date.
Limited mint, purple and baby pink coloured vinyl.
Tracklist
A1. Morbid Stuff
A2. Kids
A3. Free At Last
A4. See You At Your Funeral
A5. Scorpion Hill
B1. Closure
B2. Bloody Mary, Kate And Ashley
B3. Sibling Rivalry
B4. Full Blown Meltdown
B5. Bare Hands
B6. City