The first time I ever heard PUP (an acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential), my friend Dan sent their second record The Dream Is Over to me and said, “it makes me so happy that the kids are still making music like this.” Their distortion-drenched pop songs sung with throat-shredding exuberance captured whatever magic Weezer had pre-breakup that made generations of sad-sack punk geeks opt for black-framed glasses over contacts and start drawing =w=s on their Chuck Taylors. It was a heavy mantel, but PUP was ready and able to carry it (because Lord knows Weezer themselves set it down around 2004 or so).
But, PUP aren’t kids anymore. It’s been twelve years since the quartet formed in Toronto (then called Topanga). They’re practically veterans now. And all too often, maturity can be a sort of silver bullet for the sort of irreverent, indulgent, energetic pop music that PUP does so well. After all, this is their fourth album, a milestone that many bands use as an opportunity to reinvent themselves (see: Red Medicine, Remain in Light, Kid A, Vheissu, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot…).
PUP may be older, but they’re just as much of wiseasses as ever. The Unraveling of PUPtheBand has all of the snark and sharpness of wit that made them indie darlings in the first place. But their sonic palette is wider than it’s ever been. Of course, the wailing fuzz guitar solos and giant punk riffs are still here, but they’re tempered with occasional horns, electronics, and the sardonic, piano ballads that act as interludes. The widest variety of sounds on the album are seen in the run of tracks from “Waiting” to “Cutting the Corners.” The thrashy metal-punk of “Waiting” fades away into the glitchy, glistening synthpop that underpins the guitars in “Habits.” Then “Cutting Off the Corners” is an honest-to-goodness power ballad, complete with a slow tempo, electric piano, and devastating guitar solo aiding an almost heartbreaking chorus.
These varied colors and moods aren’t totally foreign to PUP’s discography. Their brand of adolescent recklessness has always had more serious currents below the surface. But on this record, they aren’t just in the undertow: they’re obvious landmarks in the topography, punctuating the space between self-referential jokes and meta piano interludes. Even the more sarcastic lines pack a punch, like “so you’re selling insurance! That’s so inspiring. Give me two more years, let me know if they’re hiring” on closer “PUPTHEBAND Inc. is Filing Bankruptcy.”
If anything, the expanded sonic palette makes PUP sound more like themselves than they ever had, with all of the mood swings that tinted the records before now turned into full-fledged backdrops. The band hasn’t quite grown up as much as they’ve grown into a more imposing and more fully realized version of themselves. And for everyone who fell in love with their juvenile jabs and virally infectious riffs, that’s good news.
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