Review: PUP – “THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND”

Rise Records- 01 APR 2022

On PUP’s fourth album, the band mellows out slightly, but still shows no signs of fatigue.

It’s been a long nine years since the release of PUP‘s first, self-titled album which made waves for being pop-punk with a strong emphasis on the “punk” element. You’d think that, by album number four they’d be showing some fatigue and starting to phone it in, but that’s hardly the case on THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. We find the band mellowing out a little, and I do mean just a little, but still delivering some of the most furious pop-punk in the whole genre. 

The whole record is structured around a series of three piano-based songs called “Four Chords Pt. 1, 2, and 3.” The “Four Chords” series tells the story of the band’s inner conflicts as well as their struggles with the record label. The “Four Chords” songs become less and less complex as the record moves on, with the third piece being only seven seconds long. Stefan Babcock also seems to be getting more and more frustrated with each “Four Chords” piece, which is probably to be taken with a grain of salt given Babcock’s history of self-deprecating humor in his lyrics. But it’s likely rooted in some sort of truth, as I doubt that PUP are the kind of band to always get along with their label. 

“Robot Writes a Love Song” was the first single off the album, and it’s probably the most mellow song the band has ever done. In a way, it sounds more like an AJJ song than a PUP song. That’s hardly a bad thing, as the song reflects AJJ’s sense of irony and humor. The album’s second single, “Waiting,” is probably my favorite track on the album, and it’s far from mellowed out. It’s a ripping hardcore song with a killer pop hook for the chorus. 

“Totally Fine” is some classic PUP-style hardcore with deeply introspective lyrics about mental health. “Matilda” is another one of the mellower songs, but it definitely hits hard as Babcock manages to pull off a wistful love song while also delving into his own creative process as a songwriter. “Grim Reaping” does a great job of what Babcock is really great at: marrying dark lyrical themes with ironically upbeat music. The closing track “PUPTHEBAND Inc. is Filing For Bankruptcy” is the band’s typical barely contained chaos, which is a fitting end to this record. 

If PUP is really unraveling, it certainly isn’t reflected in their music. It’s hard to believe that after four albums the band hasn’t put out a bad record, but with each album the kings of gang vocals find a way to evolve while still staying distinctly themselves. I’m not sure exactly what a bad PUP record would even look like, but it doesn’t look anything like this album.