Three weeks back, Canadian punks PUP, an acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential, released their third full length studio album, Morbid Stuff, on Rise Records. The album comes after nearly a three year break since their sophomore album The Dream Is Dead. These extended gaps between releases seem to be the norm in the punk scene nowadays, with quality being much preferred over quantity, unlike the scene in the 1980’s through the 2000’s.
The album opens with the title track, which sets the mood for the rest of the album. Dark, sarcastic lyrics have always been a cornerstone of PUP’s music, and they turned it up a notch this time around. A line from See You At Your Funeral reads “I hope somehow I never see you again, and if I do it’s at your funeral or better yet, I hope the world explodes, I hope that we all die, we can watch the highlights in hell, I hope they’re televised”. How cheery. Vocalist Stefan Babcock delivers these types of sadistic lines all throughout the album.
Sonically, the album does not stray far from either of the groups’ first two LPs, but the sound here is a bit more concise while still being varied. Some highlight tracks include Morbid Stuff, Kids, Scorpion Hill, and Full Blown Meltdown. Kids, the lead single, discusses the shared feeling of disillusionment in our modern society, and how most of the complacent majority will never do anything about it. Even those who attempt to do so know that their attempts are futile. Scorpion Hill finds the band switching tempos periodically, starting off with campfire-esque acoustic guitars before erupting into a complete punk chaos. The work of guitarist Steve Sladkowski shines particularly in this track, with his single notes leads cutting sharply through the backbeat provided by bass player Nestor Chumak and drummer Zack Mykula. Perhaps the most intense track on the album, Full Blown Meltdown finds the band questioning the point of it all, with an intense riff that sounds like Black Sabbath played at double speed.
Despite this review coming late, it is just in time for PUP to embark on the “Morbid Stuff Tour-Pocalypse” which begins tonight in Boston with a sold-out show at the Royale. I’m excited to experience their live show for the first time tonight, as I have been anticipating this for quite some time. Getting back to the album, while not quite offering the legendary sequence of the first four tracks of The Dream Is Dead, it still comes through with a passion and intensity that is unmatched in the scene today. Overall I would give this album a 9 out of 10, and it will definitely be in the running for album of the year, a post I will be working on throughout the entire year.
DJRug
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- PUP: Morbid Stuff Album Review - April 30, 2019