They say two wolves are constantly fighting within us all – one is resolutely optimistic, while the other longs to tear us down. The same, however, cannot be said for PUP. Rather than entertaining the positives, the Canadian punk rock unit have collectively succumbed to the sharp bite of pessimism. In fact, they host but one canine within them – and it’s a scroungy, nihilistic mutt keen to piss, bark and dig up every morbid memory it possibly can.
However, while the psychological PUP marks its territory of doom and gloom, the band have taken quite a shine to their glass-half-empty take on life. Despite tackling an endless slew of negative topics, every inch of PUP’s catalogue feels like a pat on the back, a dizzying influx of howl-along catharsis. Through paranoia, shitty relationships, and the ever-worsening state of the world, the Canadians remain pragmatic, balancing eye-rolling sarcasm and solemn introspection with rip-roaring punk attitude.
‘Who Will Look After The Dogs?’ is the perfect case in point; while the vulnerable title alludes to suicidal thoughts, it simultaneously reflects on the absurdity of the human psyche, how trivial details can slam the breaks on our darkest impulses. “Well, I can’t possibly kill myself – who will feed my dog? Who will balance my chequebook? Who will water the geraniums?”
In order to delve into the depths of depression in the year of 2025, PUP have stripped things back to basics, presenting some of their rawest tracks since their 2014 debut. So, Rock Sound sat down with frontman Stefan Babcock to dig into the new record and laugh about how the world’s fucked – because if you don’t laugh, you cry.
Rock Sound: Your last record was a pretty crazy meltdown, and you even recorded it in a weird haunted house. How has the approach been different this time around?
Stefan Babcock: Well, the meltdown still happened. The last record was essentially the PUP version of maximalism, but this time we wanted to take the opposite approach. It’s more like our first record. That record sounds like the four of us playing in a room, because it is – we didn’t have much money, so it was the very best we could do at the time. We wanted to try that raw approach again.
I think the four of us have a pretty special chemistry when we get into the flow of performing together. When you get into weeks of overdubbing and re-working songs, some parts of that magic can get lost. So we just wanted to make a record quickly and not worry about perfection. This record is full of stuff that normally wouldn’t have passed the smell test. On some tracks, when I listen back, I can tell I’m singing out of tune – but the attitude is there, so nothing else matters.
RS: This record certainly feels raw, like you’re just playing it through in the spur of the moment. Are there any tracks that are fully one-take?
Stefan: Almost all of them are, really. The majority is one live take of us all playing in a room, and one take from bass and drums. And yeah, it’s very raw. There are so many songs on this record where the fucking best take had the biggest mistakes, but it was just the take that felt most honest.
One of my favourite days in the studio was for the last song, ‘Shut Up’. We wanted the whole band to crash in at the end, and we’d kind of arranged something – but it didn’t really feel right. Our producer, John Congleton, kind of called us on our bullshit, and told us to try again. We tried to plan something, and he was just like ‘don’t talk, just try something different’, and he hit record.
I played the whole song, and then everyone kind of ripped in at the same time. And I don’t know how it happened, but it somehow worked. There’s even spot in that song where I stopped playing, then everybody kind of stops, and Zack [Mykula, drummer], keeps playing – and we all respond and start playing again. It felt awesome. We tried to record it again ‘properly’, but John was firmly like “no, that’s the take, otherwise it wont feel honest”.
RS: The messy, live element adds a lot to the record. You once you described your band’s live performance as ‘barely keeping it together’, and that is how this record feels…
Stefan: Yeah, that’s what it sounds like to me. The songs feel the most strong when they’re about to fall off the rails. That’s our personal dynamic too; emotionally, everything’s about to fucking fall off the rails at all times, but we keep hanging on.
RS: Even the title has that sense to it, that “we’re about to fall apart, but we’re hanging on”. The particular lyric is from ‘Hallways’, but what made you decide on ‘Who Will Look After The Dogs?’ for the final title?
Stefan: I feel like it’s the most heartbreaking lyric on the record, but it’s potentially one of the stupidest, too. It’s kind of dumb and over dramatic, but I still feel emotional when I sing it. And I think that’s such a PUP thing – it’s what I’m always after, something that’s really sad but also pretty funny in a dark way. PUP is reflecting on your worst moments and thinking ‘well, that’s fucking funny.’
I struggle a lot with my mental health stuff, and, whenever I feel the worst, I think crazy, fucked up, horrible thoughts. Then, when I get even a tiny bit of space from it, I reflect on those thoughts and how insane they were, and it is so fucking funny to me. I think a lot of people can relate to that, learning to almost laugh at how dark your mind can become. I am an incredibly lucky, fortunate human being, so it’s almost funny to have some clarity when stepping away from those emotions.
RS: You’ve always tackled those darker themes with a great sense of humour. Every time you’re self-deprecating, you balance this air of blasé hopelessness and cheeky antagonism – even ‘Hunger For Death’ has you crooning “Fuck everyone on this planet… especially me!“
Stefan: I’m proud of that one! That track is kind of assessing how we’re all pieces of shit and the world’s fucked, and we’re all a huge part of the problem. Again, it looks at reality through a different lens than someone might usually. A lot of people look at the world through a lens of sadness or despair – we try to look at it through a lens of complete absurdity.
Being able to laugh at yourself and about the state of the world is one of the few things that we have as humans have control over. It’s something that can make our lives – and the lives of those around us – better. I take this band and the songs pretty seriously, but none of us take ourselves seriously. And I just think that’s a really important approach to life.
RS: You say you take your music seriously, but ‘Shut Up’ has a lyric where you say “You’ve got your Master’s thesis, I’ve got my stupid little songs”. Do you really think your songs are ‘stupid’? Or are you aware of the weight they carry?
Stefan: It’s tough, because I’m a pretty self-deprecating human being – as you can probably tell. I really do take my writing seriously and try really fucking hard; We sound like like we have the slacker mentality, but we’re not slackers at all.
I guess… things can be stupid, but they can also be valuable. Like, the track ‘Olive Garden’ is so stupid, but it’s also good song, and there’s value in that. I hope it makes people laugh. And the guys, musically, did such an incredible job to make that song interesting. Zack had the idea to make it so heavy and detuned and grindy and uncomfortable, and it took it to a different level. And I think ‘Paranoid’ is the best representative song of PUP that exists.
RS: Some of your videos have also been pretty ‘dumb’ this time around – namely ‘Get Dumber’…
Stefan: That video was directed by Zack and Nestor Chumak [bass], and those two guys have the most fucked up, weird sense of humour. They don’t write any lyrics, so they don’t always get to show that side of their personalities in the band – so they just let loose when they have the chance. I’m really proud of those guys and I’m grateful to have them as bandmates – even if do we want to murder each other a lot.
RS: How would you describe each of your bandmates, if you were to assign roles?
Stefan: Well, Nestor is the dad of the band, because he is a dad. Every band needs a Nestor. He’s incredible, takes care of everything. Zack is the artist amongst us, who is extremely funny and also does almost all of our merch designs. Steve [Sladkowski, bass] is the musical genius. He’s just so good at guitar and understands music in a way that I certainly don’t.
…Me? Well, I’m the emotional baby. I can’t do anything, my brain doesn’t work sometimes, and I don’t really know how to play music that well. Honestly, My biggest nightmare would be being in a band of people all like me… it would just be a gang of emotional children, and we would break up instantly. I think people would hear the songs and be like, ‘there’s a cool sound somewhere in here, but these guys suck’.
But I guess that’s why PUP works. We all have extremely different personalities and skill sets from one another, so no one’s stepping on each other’s toes.
RS: What do you want people to get from the record?
Stefan: Well, I don’t exactly WANT people to relate to it – that would suck. But for those who do, I hope they find comfort in it. I hope it inspires people to go and make goofy shit, to treat their their friends better, and to and try and find some lightness in life.
It’s so easy to feel powerless, but one of the things that we can do is try to form some sort of community, create, and galvanise people. We’re doing our best to help likeminded people find each other – and we’re also finding likeminded people along the way. Like, our tour is coming up and I love Illuminati Hotties. They’re a very underrated band, and I even featured on their new song song ‘Wreck My Life’. Hopefully we can sing it together on tour…
But, ultimately, I’m just trying to write songs that are gonna make my bandmates laugh. However people react, that’s out of my control.
