IN REVIEW: PUP - "The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND"

 

Stefan Babcock has always been very good at chronicling the worst of situations, addressing failures, dread and anguish while painting the blackest clouds in bright, broad strokes. It's as though acknowledging all the negativity surrounding us with a wink and a smirk might somehow lessen its impact, presenting the idea that it's possible to defiantly hold a light to the darkness even while admitting that it's probably all for naught. Over the course of their near decade of recorded history, this common thread has been woven through their songs and their aesthetic.

Titling their fourth record The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND, then, implies that it's getting harder to keep it together, that the career PUP have forged is on the blink of collapse just like our entire world; it's brought up throughout the record, with the piano-led Four Chords interludes referencing the band as a "board of directors" and Babcock pondering switching professions in a couple of years on album closer PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing For Bankruptcy. Painting the band in such a light is equal parts a snarky response to their rising stature and a built-in defense of the band's sound, which stretches itself into slightly friendlier territory by times on the album. Take early single Robot Writes a Love Song, which weaves a 808 beat, a jaunty acoustic strum and some keyboards together with a lyric that's as endearing as it is ridiculous. Habits takes the experimentation even further, replacing many of the elements of a typical PUP song with electronic components at the song's beginning before eventually bringing in the usual instrumentation. Grim Reaping is almost danceable with its robotic beat, and there are even horns that show up in a few spots throughout the record just for a little extra flavour.

At its heart, though, this can't help but be a PUP record based on its overall attitude and general sense of gleeful self-deprecation; and, when they're focused on doing what they do best, the results speak for themselves, such as on the garage rock on steroids cacophony of Totally Fine, the heart-wrenching rager Matilda (told from the point of view of a neglected guitar, because why not?), or the doomsday party rocker Relentless (featuring backing vocals from Illuminati Hotties' Sarah Tudzin for added cool points). There's also the excellent lead single Waiting, released way back in November and featuring the record's crunchiest, most guttural delivery.

With their knowing, self-referential dark homour fully intact while introducing a greater willingness to take their sound into new places even if it means courting cries of derision from some closed-minded listeners, The Unraveling may be less about PUP coming apart and more about them transforming into something new entirely. Whatever the case, its chaotic, cynical and dread-obsessed attitude seems especially tuned to the times.

April 1, 2022 • Little Dipper/Universal

Highlights Totally Fine • Waiting • PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing For Bankruptcy