The Toronto group undertakes a personal crisis with a sense of humor and noisy guitars
“If you give me another chance, I’m probably going to kiss anyway” – now it’s an admirable self -knowledge. Toronto punk boys in puppy are now veterans, becoming strong on their fifth album Who will take care of dogs? Twelve years after their frightening and funny beginnings, they always crash through their air with a over -deficked overmultiplied guitar, while Stefan Babcock’s snotty liners decompose in singing of fraternal dike. But the puppy takes on difficult adult emotions these days. Babcock speaks for all of us when he poses the philosophical question: “Always feed on the rotten corpse of goodwill and what remains of humanity / What’s wrong with me?”
The last time, these guys worked hard to prove that they could mature and evolve as musicians, with their 2022 Puptheband’s disentanglingWith his declaration of hilarious goal, “four agreements”. But they got it out of their system, so they are not afraid to prove something now. They cut Who will take care of dogs? With producer John Congleton, with Babcock in the middle of a full -fledged personal crisis. He embarks on breaks, breakdowns, watching them your friends grow up and getting married and having children while you don’t. “Halways” is a typical puppy banger, with high speed hooks, but a strangely affirming feeling. “I lose the desire to continue dragging,” shouts Babcock. “But I can’t die yet because who will take care of the dog?”
“Get Dumber” is a duo ace with their longtime friend and companion of Jeff Rosenstock, to have as miserable and lameful friends as you are, but at least you are happy that you have each other to complain. There is even a sincere love song in “Olive Garden”, because Babcock offers a romantic invitation: “Let’s meet at Olive Garden / It’s been too long / the last time your grandmother was in a coffin / It was weird to speak.”
The songs perform the emotional range of “No Hope” to “Hunger 4 Death” at “Shut Up”. But there is a hot camerade in the heart of their music, which is why even their darkest songs – and they are almost all Dark – Always can feel edifying. The PUP has always prospered on the self-designed sarcasm-it is the group whose name represents “the pathetic use of potential”, which was the comment of the Babcock grandmother on her career choice. But as he said once, Rolling Stone, “playing super fine, rowdy and high energy songs on miserable shit is really a cathartic, productive and fun way to manage all these negative emotions.” And as the puppy always proves, a sense of humor helps in difficult times.
