Toronto’s PUP released the massive "Morbid Stuff" last year to critical acclaim, earning countless year-end nods, their late-night debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers, and a largely sold-out world tour that had them on the road for a solid 9 months. They returned a few weeks ago with “Anaphylaxis", their first new material of 2020, and now they have created their first quarantine-induced performance for the single. After a few, uh, less successful attempts, PUP share an incredible video of the new single, performed live for the first time, straight from their respective homes (and tour van!)
Says lead singer Stefan Babcock about the video: "During our quarantine, I couldn’t go to our jam space. I also live in a small apartment and my neighbours understandably get very annoyed and/or concerned about my mental state when they hear me yelling my head off about getting stung by bees or killing my bandmates or whatever garbage these dumb songs are about. So I started making demos and recording in my car in a parking lot across the street from my house. Every few minutes, cops would slowly drive past to see what the unhinged kid in the busted up Ford Escape was doing. But I’m white, so lucky me, my biggest worry was that they’d judge my precious lyrics. White privilege is real. Defund the police":
Additionally, PUP have put Morbid Stuff-themed masks up for sale now, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Trans Toolkits Collective, supporting trans, two-spirit, and non-binary people in Toronto dealing with gender dysphoria and being hit especially hard by COVID-19 by delivering personalized toolkits of gender essential items. Click HERE to grab a mask and support!
Formed in Toronto five years ago, PUP, comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski, 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. Their most recent album, Morbid Stuff, landed on countless year-end lists, saw the band making their late night debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers, and resulted in sold out shows the world over. 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. It’s the most insightful, sweetest, funniest, sickest, angriest, saddest and most inescapably desperate collection of songs they’ve recorded to date.
STREAM / BUY "MORBID STUFF" HERE
Tracklist "Morbid Stuff":
1. Morbid Stuff
2. Kids
3. Free At Last
4. See You At Your Funeral
5. Scorpion Hill
6. Closure
7. Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley
8. Sibling Rivalry
9. Full Blown Meltdown
10. Bare Hands
11. City