Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 8/24/25
PUP
ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
WHO WILL LOOK AFTER THE DOGS?
OUT MAY 2ND VIA LITTLE DIPPER / RISE RECORDS
NEW SINGLE & VIDEO FOR “HALLWAYS” OUT NOW
“The Toronto band Pup has long made frenetic punk-pop with neat verse-chorus-bridge structures underlying Stefan Babcock’s raucously overwrought and fully self-aware lead vocals.” – New York Times
“PUP’s fourth album, ‘The Unraveling of PUPTheBand,’ finds the quartet completely removing any of the limits left on their music, pushing things as far as possible” – The New Yorker
“Hearts on their sleeves, the group captures the rage and frustration of human fallibility with crashing drums and infectious irreverence” – NPR Music
“The new songs are boisterous, catchy, and meta while also earnestly wading through the nuances of depression in a manner often reserved for “confessional” indie rock…an instant mood-booster.” – Pitchfork
“transmuting life’s frustrations into unhinged visceral joy” – Stereogum (Album of the Week)
“‘The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND’…reinforces the message that it’s okay to be yourself, no matter who you are.” – Vulture
“PUP’s winning recipe is 49% snark, 51% heart” – Bandcamp (Album of the Day)
Toronto punk heroes PUP— comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski— will release their highly anticipated forthcoming album Who Will Look After The Dogs? On May 2nd via Little Dipper / Rise Records. 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. It was made in Los Angeles with producer John Congleton over the course of three weeks, and it’s the culmination of PUP’s past decade of constant touring and their palpable, livewire chemistry. The album evokes the lightning-in-a-bottle intensity of their self-titled debut (except they are much better at their instruments now), and finds our self-deprecating frontman Stefan Babcock at his most reflective, vulnerable and prolific. Over 12 tracks, Babcock excavates his life’s relationships—romantic, with his bandmates, and most ruthlessly, his relationship to himself. There’s plenty of growth, but also plenty of unpredictable mayhem in the arrangements and an acerbic bite in the writing. And while PUP historically are at one another’s throats during the album process, this time they scrapped their tedious perfectionism and rediscovered the joy of making loud music together. They had fun this time, we swear!
PRE-ORDER WHO WILL LOOK AFTER THE DOGS? NOW
Also out today is the album’s lead single “Hallways.” The first song Babcock wrote for the album, “Hallways” is bracing and raw, but its lightness keeps it together: “Cause when one door closes, it might never open / There might be no other doors.” Listen to the song and watch the incredibly surreal music video, directed by Sterling Larose, now HERE.
EMBED
“Within days of announcing our last album, coincidentally titled The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND, my life unexpectedly imploded. I wrote the lyrics for ‘Hallways’ while all that was going on. It was a weird fucking week,” says Babcock. “The title of our new record, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album. I think it’s devastating, but in a ‘holy shit this is overdramatic’ kinda way. At least in context of the line that comes before it. That’s what makes it funny to us. That overblown stuff we all say in our dark moments can be hilarious once you’ve cooled off a bit. I don’t know if anyone else thinks it’s funny, but sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself. It’s the only way out of the abyss. Trust me.”
Who Will Look After The Dogs? Tracklist:
01 No Hope
02 Olive Garden
03 Concrete
04 Get Dumber
05 Hunger For Death
06 Needed To Hear It
07 Paranoid
08 Falling Outta Love
09 Hallways
10 Cruel
11 Best Revenge
12 Shut Up
TOUR DATES
05/07/25 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO Birmingham*&
05/08/25 – Leeds, UK @ Project House*&
05/10/25 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz*&
05/11/25 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 (TV Studio)*&
05/12/25 – Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle University*&
05/13/25 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory*&
05/15/25 – Southampton, UK @ Engine Rooms*&
05/16/25 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town*&
05/18/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg*
05/20/25 – Cologne, DE @ Club Volta*
05/21/25 – Hamburg, DE @ Logo*
05/22/25 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44*
05/23/25 – Munich, DE @ Strom*
05/25/25 – Paris, FR @ Bellevilloise*
05/27/25 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Mon
05/28/25 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
05/29/25 – València, ES @ Loco Club
05/30/25 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba
* support from Illuminati Hotties
& support from Goo
