Pup – ‘Who Will Look After the Dogs?’ review

It’s 2025 and PUP is back, baby! Dare I say it’s about to be a pop punk summer like it’s 2010 again? The Toronto band officially released their fifth studio album, Who Will Look After the Dogs? on Friday and I, for one, couldn’t be happier. This latest album does not fall short when it comes to the witty lyrics and fun instrumentals that we’ve all come to expect with PUP. I think it’s safe to say that Who Will Look After the Dogs? is going to be a soundtrack for this upcoming summer.

One thing I noticed immediately when listening to Who Will Look After the Dogs? was that PUP grew up. This album is full of the band we all know love, but there is a maturity in the lyrics that is hard to ignore. The punchy lyrics are delivered with such feeling that listeners can’t help but relate to while listening. Stefan Babcock has a way of writing these songs to create the most emotional harm possible and still make you love it. His lyrics relate to things that people in their late 20s and early 30s might be going through or have experienced in the past. It makes you feel seen.

If you’re looking for a love song on this album, “Olive Garden” is the closet you’re going to get. It’s not exactly what you would consider a love song, but we’ll take what we can get. The chorus leans the most into romance, “Let’s meet at the Olive Garden / It’s been too long / Last time, your / Grandma was in a coffin / It was weird to talk.” There is, if you squint a little bit, a hint of romance in that, a certain level of care that sneaks in when you least expect it. It’s easy to think that isn’t a love song, but even the first verse is cheesy enough to work.

The song also has the lyric, “If you give me another chance / I’m probably gonna fuck it up anyway.” Not only is this self deprecating lyric is extremely relatable for a lot of people, but it also shows maturity. There comes a time in everyone’s life that you realize you have to be mature enough to recognize getting another chance isn’t the best solution. These lyrics show exactly that. It paints the picture of someone taking both theirs and the other persons feelings into account. For such a quick lyric at the end of the second verse, it holds a lot of weight.

“Hunger for Death” is another song that really stuck out to me. This is definitely one of the darker songs on the album, but it’s beautiful. The start of the song feels a little old-timey, a little creepy almost but it works with Babcock’s lyrics and the tone that he sings in. “I wanna know / How you explain / All that violence / Still running through your veins” is an absolutely wild chorus to have when you think about it, bust especially so with how Babcock delivers it throughout the song.

The album itself is filled with banger after banger for me. “Paranoid” is another song that tugs at the heart strings while “Best Revenge” is possibly the most relatable song on the entire album. “Get Dumber” with Jeff Rosenstock is all about friendship, no matter how miserable you might you be feeling. “Shut Up” talks about depression and not feeling good enough in ways that we have all be through. “You’re working through the evenings / I’m working through the fog / You’ve got your master’s thesis / I’ve got my stupid little songs” Tell me you haven’t thought the same exact thing when you’re in the throes of a depressive episode. Babcock really stepped up his lyric writing for Who Will Look After the Dogs?. He should be proud of what he created with this album.

Who Will Look After the Dogs? is an album that grew up with PUP and their fans. The lyrics on this album are some of the most emotional I’ve heard from the band. Despite the darker themes and lyrics, the album doesn’t drag you down like you would think. That’s all thanks to the same old PUP instrumentation that we get. Overall, Who Will Look After the Dogs? is an album that any pop punker will enjoy as we transition from the winter to #emokidsummer.

Album cover image courtesy of Little Dipper Records. Who Will Look After the Dogs? is available on Bandcamp.

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