April 1st, 2022. The most important day in human history. Second only to April 5, 2019 (the release date of PUP’s most recent album: Morbid Stuff). I found PUP in my freshman year of high school after the unveiling of their, at the time, most recent album. I hadn’t gotten to experience the all-consuming hype that comes with awaiting a drop from your favorite band. I spent the last month of March munching on the crumbs PUP was leaving for its fanbase in the form of mini albums containing songs from the upcoming album. Every time I got a new Spotify alert I jumped up from wherever I was sitting (if I was standing then imagine me standing, but like, in a surprised way) and composing myself enough to pull up the artist tab, whip out my headphones, and jam out to the new song that was going to rule my Spotify stats for the next cycle. The oh-so-anticipated album in question was THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. And let me just say, I haven’t listened to a more well-structured, refreshing, relatable, and inventive album in years. 

PART I

This was the most inventive part of the album. PUP’s beauty has never come from straying from the punk formula, but for this album they branched out and tried some things I’d never heard them do. For example “Robot Writes a Love Song” is the first positive love song I’ve ever heard from them. It has a much more hopeful, and happy feel than any other relationship based song PUP has.

The opening song “Four Chords” is the first PUP song with such a central piano, and also without the heavy vocals and instrumentation that has become the PUP standard. By no means is this change unwelcome. The transition in “Four Chords” from a solitary piano to an eclectic and almost cinematic swelling orchestra brings a unique feel that sucks the listener into the beginning of the album.

“Totally Fine” is a much more PUP-ish song which is all about feeling like total crap, while telling people you’re doing alright, which is something that anyone can relate to, especially in these times where a headline or a random event can send you spiraling into a train of thought that ruins your whole day.

“Matilda” was a beautiful ode to an old guitar, and “Relentless” made me feel proud of myself? I don’t know why, but the energy of the song can’t be described in any other way. It was a very inspirational set of songs. Over the past couple of years, everyone has had to contend with so much awful stuff, and “Relentless” is an ode to those people who never wanna give up on their dreams and a testament to the band’s unwillingness to hand over their hopes for the future. Overall, I was pleased and surprised by Part I. 

PART II

The second part of THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND is far less digestible and more traditional punk. This whole chunk has an overarching theme of longing.  The opening song of this section is a short 27 second piano break called “Four Chords Pt. II: Five Chords”. You can hear Babcock start to get annoyed and it leads perfectly into “Waiting”’s rumbling guitar. I love song’s with screamable refrains, and “Waiting” checks all my boxes. The general passive-aggressiveness of the song is relatable and goes well with the subject matter (waiting around for a crappy ex).

“Habits” has much more of a synth-y electric feel. The backing vocals in this song sell it for me, and the cymbal crashes punctuate the song and contrast the vocals, almost revealing the inner feelings of the singer. There’s a general feeling that the person who the song is about is working overtime to keep it all together.

“Cutting Off The Corners” is some main character music – stuff you put on to cry to when you feel sad, but you want to cry in like an artsy movie kinda way. I can’t tell if the song is supposed to be about an animal or a person, because there’s the repeated line of “You’re always begging me to let you out” and the “And now I’m clawing at your back door”. Whatever’s going on there is great regardless, with the static guitar in the bridge and the space left after for Babcock’s voice to take over.

The best song off of this section is hands down “Grim Reaping”. “Grim Reaping” stands above the rest with its horn section that brings a bit of a ska feel to the song. It reminds me a bit of Jeff Rosenstock’s earlier work with the blend of punk and ska. I’m living for it though. It contains all the things a great PUP song should have. 

PART III

Part III is much smaller than its preceding sections, but “PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing for Bankruptcy” fills the space and then some. It is far and away my favorite song on the album. As a senior in high school, I relate to the feeling of wanting to give up on everything and finding everyday life repulsive and disinteresting.

The almost laughing in the second half of the song and then the screeching of what could be a violin or a guitar, and then movement into a vocal reliant section is so powerful. The verses then come right back in, and close the song with a critical lens on how music gets worse the more money that’s poured into it. The negative aspects of fame and selling art aren’t discussed often by bands who have accrued mainstream success, and it’s interesting to see PUP’s take on the sellout side of the industry.

PUP is able to talk about such a discouraging topic for musical artists while keeping it light hearted and funny with lines like “I used to be reckless and too broke to eat / Now all of my friends have bidets in their en suites”. But in the end what’s best is to stick true to what you wanted to achieve when you first started something rather than letting yourself get sucked into the money and the fame. Anyways, I bet 1000 bucks this will be my top song next Spotify wrapped. 

MY RATING: 9/10 

The reason it isn’t a 10/10 is because I think PUP did a lot of experimenting with this album, which is something they should have done, but when branching out into new sounds and flavors of instrumentation you have some hiccups. Overall, it didn’t weigh down the positive aspects of the album, and is now my new second favorite PUP album (The Dream is Over still reigns supreme).