<p><span><span>- For the better half of two full length albums PUP have put on full display and won fans over with their youthful shambolic charm. Not everything they put to record is perfect, nor does it need to be. Boundless, frantic energy and raw, emotional performances crown these four gents from the Great White North as doyens of sweaty, crammed bars. Hitting their stride with 2016’s <em>The Dream Is Over</em>, PUP produced a more coherent record than their debut. This brings us to <em>Morbid Stuff: </em>an album that does dwell on the darker things, but does so with a wry, possibly half-drunk smile.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Buzzing like a hornet in a bottle of maple syrup, <em>Morbid Stuff</em> constantly sounds like if there’s one misstep, you’ll see it stumbling over its own feet and spiking headfirst into the ground. If there is one instrumental consistency here it’s that barely a passage is completed before switching up with such rapidity it feels like a shotgun was taken to these songs; blowing out expected structures and losing sight of a chorus or two in the process. Everything ebbs and flows like bodies in a crowd as drum patterns change with great rapidity and the melodies follows suit. Reusing the introduction on the album’s title track builds to a pleasing climax, dropping all fidelity as it ends on a scratchy demo recording. <em>Free At Least</em> notates an interplay between Stefan and the featured vocals, which leaves you feeling like you’re overhearing an argument. It’s a beef that features a fantastic solo feeding so effortlessly into the galloping bridge and leads you to the end. The slightly off-key introduction to <em>Scorpion Hill </em>is introspective for just a minute before bursting forth, all the while keeping up an almost psychotic focus on its internal monologue.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Musically the band bring a malaise that ties perfectly into the vocals and lyrics from <strong>Stefan</strong> <strong>Babcock</strong> and thematically, <em>Morbid Thoughts </em>is PUP’s most mature album to date. Whether he’s waiting for the highlights from the end of the world to be streamed down in hell, wanting to know a monstrous entity’s favourite Olsen Twin, or even singing about his child’s first day of school, things seem pretty bleak and from the album title, we could have guessed that. Through all the muck and the mire, however, everything is approached in a way that is quick to laugh at itself and keep on keeping on.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>PUP have indeed kept on keeping on. While not working too far out of their wheelhouse, everything has stalked into place to match the more macabre mood. As they do best, heavy situations become group therapy thanks to the weight of the mass of backing and good old gang vocals, ringing out in unison. <em>Morbid Thoughts</em> is almost the “growing old is mandatory, growing up is an optional” record for this band. Despite delving into deeper, darker themes, PUP deal with said problems with a level head and send them on their way with a smirk and two fingers in the air.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Matt Lynch.</span></span></p>
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