The Album:

After being fairly dormant since 2016, when talk about a new album hit the circuit, PUP fans were ready to throw down, and let me tell you: this album is absolutely stellar, so PUP gave them all the reason to do so. From the jump, I just have to say that this album is so eclectic and old time pop punk, and I am absolutely living for it. I say the record is eclectic, for the PUP brand is just odd from the timbre of the singer’s voice, the orchestration and texture of the instrumentation, and through the lyrical lines and topics they choose to write songs about. Putting all of these things together makes for a unique record that is going to be hard to beat, but then, and yes, then, PUP brings back the pop punk sound that has been missing from the scene for quite some time. By doing this, they basically shut everything down because, let’s be honest, everyone has been missing that rustic pop punk sound that you want to scream your lungs off too while you’re stage diving at a live show. And guess what, this is the album that is bringing that back. The songs on the album are simple, instrumentally speaking, and the melodic lines are overly catchy. This will help audience members attach to the record quicker, for they will learn the content quicker, and then, they can just jam to it. Overall, I am giving this album a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I am giving it such a score because it is bringing us back to the good ‘ole days, musically speaking, it’s easy to listen to, and it just grooves the whole way through.

 

Top Tracks:

“Kids”, “Full Blown Meltdown”, and “Bare Hands”

This album is packed full of bops, but these are the tracks that stick out amongst the pack, and I’m here to tell you why. When listening to this record for the first time, these pieces grab the audience members’ attention, for they resonate in a different manner than the rest of the tracks in the cut. Yes, they are related to everything else in the set, but these works utilize the unique “PUP” brand and sound in every way, which is used to create music that one probably hasn’t heard before. Furthermore, this allows these tracks to just smack the listener hard because they are like “wow, this is new, innovative, weird, and I like it”. So, start here.

 

The Artwork:

When glancing at the artwork before diving into the music, it is easily said that people would be intrigued because the cover art is so weird and interesting- people are going to want to know what it is all about. Let’s see how the art pairs with the music, shall we? PUP provides music that is eclectic with the connecting term of “Morbid Stuff” (record title). This allows them to touch on pretty much anything, lyrically speaking, and they do just that, but when listening to the album, the content feels like it all connects. This connects to the cover artwork, for the cover of the record depicts balloons with smiley faces on them (some deflated), the people are blind folded with party hats, while all holding knives, and this all drives with a color scheme that drives on variations of a pastel palette. Now, I know what you are thinking, how does this connect? It doesn’t sound similar at all. Well, you would be totally right, and that’s why it works so well. Throughout the album, PUP is exaggerating everything, lyrically speaking, being very overdramatic as it were, and the album cover just expands that to the fullest degree. Keeping this all in mind just shows that the two are perfect for one another, and that will drive the success of the record.

*”Morbid Stuff” was released on April 5^th, 2019 through Rise Records and BMG Rights Management.