PUP - “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” Video

PUP have transcended to a new level with their upcoming sophomore album, The Dream Is Over, which is high praise from us considering we named them both a band to watch and best new band before their fantastic 2014 debut even came out. But with “DVP,” the new record’s lead single that came out at the top of the year, it was clear that the Toronto band were operating at a completely different speed. They doubled down on the self-loathing and caustic passion that marked their debut, and created one of the finest punk records we’ve gotten in a long while.

“If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” is the bitter, frustrated opening track to The Dream Is Over, a scathing indictment of a band member based on resentments that festered over time due to long periods together on the road in cramped quarters. It’s a situation that anyone whose been in a band can relate too far too much, and anyone who hasn’t can latch onto the pure, unadulterated hatred that’s thrown at the subject of the song. It starts off sourly uneasy — “I hate your guts and it makes me ill, seeing your face every morning,” “Everything you do makes me wanna vomit” — before coming through with the punch halfway in, building to a group exclamation of “Why can’t we just get along?” whose only answer is more volume. Stefan Babcock’s voice, despite the health concerns that resulted in the record’s title, sounds as smooth and irate as ever, and the rest of the band is in top form. Do yourself a favor and play “Tour” and “DVP” back-to-back — the transition between the two is one of the most satisfying and exhilarating things I’ve heard all year.

The new song comes attached to an appropriately violent video directed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux — watch and listen via Noisey below.