PUP’s “Morbid Stuff” [Review]

Going into 2022, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be listening to PUP at all. That all changed when they ended up releasing “THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND” on April 1st, 2022. A week later, I picked up a copy of the vinyl record as well as a CD.

I’d heard of PUP before, and I even picked up a copy of “Morbid Stuff” around the time it came out because I thought the vinyl record looked cool (it still does look really cool), and while I had given it a listen before, I never actively paid attention to any of the lyrics or the instrumentals, it was just mostly background noise. But after giving “THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND” quite a few listens, I figured I should revisit their back catalog. Since then, “Morbid Stuff” has become one of my favorite albums, with nearly every song getting stuck in my head over the past few months.

Debuting on April 5th, 2019, PUP’s third album “Morbid Stuff” released with incredibly high praise, with many outlets calling it the band’s best album yet.

In an interview with Now, Stefan Babcock, the lead singer and lyricist for PUP explained that Morbid Stuff “is about accepting the darkness and the moods and all the bullshit that comes with it and just trying to find that little pinprick of light in it”. In another interview, this time with Substream Magazine, Babcock goes on to say that “as a songwriter, it’s crucial for me to probe the darkness within me without being too self-serious about it. Laughing at yourself is part of the healing process, as is learning not to be too serious about yourself. The things we write about are generally a recipe for brutal fucking emo. Like, there is good emo and brutal fucking emo, and we write the kind of thing that would be brutal fucking emo if we took ourselves too seriously.”

While PUP never takes themselves too seriously, many of the tracks on “Morbid Stuff” poke and prod at the darkness that lives within us all. In an interview with Vice News, Babcock explains that one of the jobs as a lyricist is to dig up many of his old skeletons. In the title track “Morbid Stuff”, everything comes to fruition within the first few lyrics of the song. “…thinkin’ all this morbid stuff. Like if anyone I’ve slept with is dead. And I got stuck on death and dying and obsessive thoughts that won’t let up. Makes me feel like I’m about to throw up.”. With all of the dark and depressing thoughts that come with the territory of life itself, Babcock reflects on how all of their time has been wasted.

The lead single off of the album “Kids” is described by Babcock as a “love song from one nihilistic depressive to another. It’s about what happens when you stumble across the only other person on the face of this godless, desolate planet that thinks everything is as twisted and as fucked up as you do. And thanks to them, the world starts to seem just a little less bleak, but only slightly — it’s still pretty fucked up to be honest.”. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Babcock exclaims that he’s “…very nihilistic person, in case you haven’t figured that out. My partner’s the same way. I’m so lucky to have her in my life, but at the same time, my sense of humor and her sense of humor is so bleak that the way that I can express my love through a song to her is by talking about how fucking dogshit the world is and how she has made it slightly less dogshitty for me. You know, I don’t know how she really feels about the song or my description of it. … I’m sure she thinks it’s stupid as fuck.”.

The music video for “Kids” was set up to have a “happy feel-good ending”, but at the end, it would “crush [the viewer] with darkness”. Babcock goes on to say that “Just like life in the present, most things in the future will probably turn out shit, or, if we’re really lucky, fine at best.” The video itself has been praised by many outlets as one of the best of 2019. Musically, the band combines an incredible bass line with some solid drums and an almost emotional lead guitar.

“Free At Last” is much louder and than the previous tracks on the record, as Babcock’s vocals almost get lost in the almost muddy bass, but that all gets made up for with the incredible guitar solo and vocalizing that happens in the middle of the song. Eva Hendricks of “Charly Bliss” is also featured on this song and can be heard shouting the line “Have you been drinking?”. The lyrics of the song as a whole revolve around the fact that while you’re sad in the moment, you should be liberated by the idea that in the end, it won’t really matter.

Once again, the music video for this track is really something special as the band put out the lyrics and chords to the song so that fans could cover it before it was even released. With 253 submissions, the band put together a video featuring all of the fan covers together.

In “See You At Your Funeral”, we take a step back from the explosive instrumentals of the last track and move into something a bit more melodic while maintaining that punk rock feel. With that said, the excellent instrumental break is heavily appreciated. To contrast that, the album gets pretty dark in this song with lyrics like “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.”. The lyrics show what it’s like a few weeks after a rough breakup where neither the singer nor their ex-partner ever wants to see each other ever again, and how it may be better to think of them dead than to remember the past.

Probably my favorite lyric on this record is off of the song “Scorpion Hill”, “And if the world is gonna burn, everyone should get a turn to light it up”. This song really shows the range that the band has, from almost a country-feeling ballad that transforms into a faster punk ballad. This is probably the darkest song on the album lyrically. Where the protagonist is “Down and out… havin’ some pretty dark thoughts,” and they “like them a lot…”. Trying their best to get through life, doing their best to provide for their family while dealing with the stress and burnout of everyday life. While they’re on the verge of alcoholism and suicide, wondering how they can go on, the lyrics tell us that even in the deepest and darkest moments of our lives, there’s always something to keep pushing you forward.

“Closure” is a song about death. While this song is nowhere as hard-hitting as “Sleep In The Heat” off of the band’s sophomore album “The Dream Is Over”, the song still stings. While the singer states that they don’t need the recently departed to “feel fine” or for them to “come back”, they won’t ever feel the same because they won’t ever get the closure they need from whatever relationship they had.

Inspired by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen’s “The Ghost Song (No Such Thing)”, “Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley”, is a song about the game “Bloody Mary” as well as the Olsen Twins, Mary-Kate & Ashley. The singer is probably high after taking some kind of drug or hallucinogenic and believes that they’re talking to some kind of ghost. While the song isn’t really about anything too dark, the instrumentals take it to a whole other level as the song is syncopated and flips through 11/8 and 12/8 making it a joy on the ears.

Focusing more on the “Rock” in “Punk Rock”, “Sibling Rivalry” turns up the guitars and really leans into Babcock’s vocals. This song is pretty easy to explain as the title kind of says it all. As a sibling, you’re always getting up to some really dumb stuff. Babcock and his sister, Carla, would always get up to some kind of shenanigans whether that’s trying to use a raft to float across a sewage creek or flying all the way to the southern tip of South America for a hike, things can get pretty intense. While you’ll always know how to tick off your sibling, the song is all about getting along with your family, no matter how much they piss you off.

“Full Blown Meltdown” is a departure from anything the band has ever done, as the song is basically a metal anthem as opposed to a pop-punk one. The instruments sound muddy compared to the rest of the album but that isn’t a bad thing and it’s a welcome change. In an interview with Billboard, PUP explains that the song is about how mentally ill musicians get treated by the music industry. Babcock goes on to explain that there’s a fetishization of depression that gets glorified by the industry.

In “Bare Hands”, PUP tells the tale of letting go of someone important in your life. Whether that means cutting them out because they’re a poison or someone you once loved that you can no longer be around. You’re hanging onto the threads of what was once a thriving friendship/relationship, but sometimes it might be best to let go.

Rounding out the album is “City”, a song that departs from all of the other sounds on the record, toning down the punk rock into a mellow closer, something that they did in their previous album with “Pine Point”. The tone of the song is a bit distressing because of how different it sounds from the rest of the album. It still manages to feel “Punk”, but more of a ballad if anything. The song’s dark themes don’t let up, however, showing that the protagonist is fed up with not only their day-to-day life in a city that they once loved and thrived in, but it’s getting harder and harder to live in. Despite their best attempts to escape, they keep getting dragged back in for one reason or another. The “City” described in the song could also be referring to a person as well.

Final Thoughts

“Morbid Stuff” is an essential piece of Punk Rock, one that’s extremely raw and violent, dealing with and taking on all of the things that actually matter in life, no matter how morbid it may be. The dark undertones of the lyrics are supplemented by the high-octane instrumentals and make it fit for a more modern audience.

References:
Now: PUP: scrappy Toronto punk band kick a hole in rock star mythology
Substream: Stefan Babcock Talks ‘Morbid Stuff’ And Pup’s Ability To Never Stop Never Stopping
Rolling Stone: PUP on the Things That Make Life ‘Slightly Less’ Terrible
Billboard: Pup Stares Down Its Biggest Year Yet: How They Started Their Own Label & Delivered a Must-Hear Punk Album

Album Score: 10/10
Favorite Tracks: “Kids”, “Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley”, “Sibling Rivalry”, “Bare Hands”

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