PUP - Morbid Stuff

It’s fair to say PUP have a bit of a knack for titles. On last album ‘The Dream Is Over’, the Toronto punk quartet took the wise words of frontman Stefan Babcock’s doctor – whose prognosis was that he’d never sing again, fyi – and twisted them into an ironic yet succinct gauge of their current place in the world.

With ‘Morbid Stuff’ they’re once again hitting the nail on the head, this time using their firecracker brand of punk rock to explore the disillusionment and existential crisis that most of us find ourselves facing right now. Much like their previous two efforts, it’s a seamless explosion of ferocity which translates their anger and nihilism perfectly, still somehow managing to promote a sense of camaraderie and hope. From the gang-vocal taunts of ‘See You At Your Funeral’ to the paranoid questioning of ‘Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley’ (“Are you real or fake, are you alive, am I awake?”), they may be using ‘Morbid Stuff’ to face their demons head on, but there’s a sense of reckless abandon to the whole thing that makes it entirely freeing.