PUP have shared two outtakes from last year’s great THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND, “How To Live With Yourself” and “Smoke Screen.” “How To Live With Yourself” was the first song PUP had written for the album, and singer/guitarist Stefan Babcock says, “The first one is always the hardest, you tend to overthink everything, so we wanted to start with something simple and fun, something that we wouldn’t get too in our own heads about. This one feels like a classic PUP song to me, and while our goal for the record was to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and try new things, sometimes it feels good to write a catchy, miserable ripper that feels like it captures exactly what this band is about.”
Meanwhile, “Smoke Screen” began with a riff by bassist Nestor Chumak, and Stefan says Nestor’s idea was to do a more “sludgey” version of PUP. “The more I listened to it, the more it grew on me. I remember in the height of the pandemic sitting in the backseat of my car at the Home Depot parking lot, anything to try and escape the house, and writing and recording all the lyrics on the spot.”
Stefan’s descriptions should give you a good idea of what to expect from each song, and both are great songs that sound like no other band in the world. Check them out below.
We just caught PUP at NYC’s Pier 17 and Atlantic City’s Adjacent Fest, and they absolutely ripped both times. They’re on tour now in Europe and the UK, and they’ll be back in the US for two editions of Hawthorne Heights’ traveling Is For Lovers festival and Chicago’s Riot Fest. All dates are listed below.
PUP — 2023 Tour Dates
6/1- Paris, FR @ Backstage By The Mill
6/2- Nantes, FR @ Le Ferrailleur
6/3- Toulouse, FR @ Connexion Live
6/5- Madrid, SP @ Primavera In The City
6/7 – Nickelsdorf, AU @ Novarock
6/9 – Donington, UK @ Download Festival
6/10 – Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound
6/16 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
6/23 – Ysselsteyn, NL @ Jera On Air Festival
6/24 – Münster, DE @ Vainstream Festival
6/26 – Aarhus, DK @ VoxHall
6/28 – Essen, DE @ Zeche Carl
6/29 – Hannover, DE @ MusikZentrum
6/30 – Rotselaar, BE @ Rock Werchter
7/2 – Rotterdam, NL @ Metropolis
7/7 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
7/8 – Sherbrooke, QC @ Sherblues & Folk
7/21 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah Is For Lovers,
7/22 – Denver, CO @ Colorado Is For Lovers
8/5 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
9/11 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
9/12 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Café
9/14 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
9/15-9/17 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest