Canadian punks PUP unleash their new album on Aussie crowds

Canadian punk rockers PUP are set to unleash their new album, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, on Perth audiences this week, wrapping up their Australian tour at Magnet House this Thursday, August 14—with tickets on sale now. BRAYDEN EDWARDS spoke with singer Stefan Babcock to find out about embracing vulnerability on the new record, what’s changed since their 2022 tour down under, and which up-and-coming Canadian punk acts to keep an eye on.

Congratulations on your great new record, Who Will Look After the Dogs?—It’s awesome to have you back in Australia! How has it felt bringing these new songs to the stage, and how does your live show now compare to the last time you toured here in 2022?

It’s been really fun playing the new stuff. I feel like this record is connecting harder and in a more immediate way amongst PUP fans, and that feels great. My favourite part of the night is when the whole crowd yells “FUCK EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET” when we play our song Hunger For Death. It’s good. Apparently it’s a universally held sentiment.

And beyond the shows, is there anything you’re especially excited to do while you’re back in Australia?

It’s our first time back to WA since 2015, so we are really excited to end this tour in Perth. We’re gonna do some beach stuff even though it’s not beach season. You take what you can get. In other news, I saw an ibis today just roaming the streets, no one paying them any mind. I was like, “Wtf is this big boy with a scythe beak, and why isn’t everyone freaking out?” God, I love Australia.

The album title is pulled from the track Hallways, with the line “I can’t die yet ’cause who will look after the dog?” What made that line feel like the right one to represent the whole record? Does it reflect the balance of darkness and humour throughout the album?

It’s a pretty PUP thing, I think, to take the most heartbreaking lyric on the record and make a joke about it. The sentiment is real, but also, it’s such a stupid thing to think. Looking back on when I first wrote that sentence—literally the first thing written for this entire record—I kinda think, “Damn dude, that’s fucked.” But also kinda funny. I think that is what this record is, and what a lot of PUP songs are: funny and sad and stupid all at the same time. That’s what we do best—take the really dark shit and try to find a light at the end of the tunnel, and then make fun of whoever’s holding that light.

This record has a raw, stripped-back feel that really brings out that emotion. Was that a conscious production choice, and how did the recording process differ from your previous albums?

Yes, completely conscious. The record feels real, like the four of us ripping songs in a room, because that’s exactly what it is. We have the tendency to “overcook” stuff. We sometimes work on songs so long and hard that we forget what made them special in the first place. So this time, the goal wasn’t to play things perfectly or get bogged down in the minutiae. The goal was to capture the spirit and energy of these songs. The songs are about imperfect people and situations and are rough around the edges themselves.

We wanted that to be mirrored in the production. If something was out of tune but the take felt really great, we just kept it. I think there’s more heart in this record than anything we’ve done before. Our friend John Congleton produced it, and he was a big part of keeping that part of things on track.

Canada has always produced great punk bands, but we’re literally a world away down here in Australia! What’s the scene like in 2025, and are there any up-and-coming acts we should keep our eyes and ears open for?

Yeah, there’s a great community. We came up listening to Fucked Up and METZ and The Weakerthans and other really great Canadian bands doing cool things, so it’s nice to carry that torch for a bit. There are a million great bands coming up right now: NOBRO, Chastity and The OBGMs are good ones to start with. Also Snotty Nose Rez Kids, who are not a punk band but have an incredibly punk ethos, and we love them.

Speaking of up-and-coming acts, young Aussie duo Teenage Joans are joining you for this tour—what made them a good fit for this run of shows?

They write great songs that rip and seem really fun. They’re soundchecking above me as I write this, and they sound sick as hell. Tonight is our first show with them, and I’m really excited to watch them play.

And what’s next for PUP on the other side of this tour? Do you feel any more new music will follow in the vein of this record, or do you already have other ideas taking shape?

After this we have a long US tour with our friend Jeff Rosenstock and then a long Canadian tour with our friends Snotty Nose Rez Kids, so we’re pretty full on for the rest of the year. We are working on a big project with our friend Clem. It’s not a record, but it’s something we’re very excited about and can’t wait to show the world. Some next-level shit.

PUP plays Magnet House on Thursday, August 14. Tickets are on sale now from destroyalllines.com