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Jun 09, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Vanessa Heins

Toronto based punk band, PUP have shared two previously unreleased songs, “How To Live With Yourself” and “Smoke Screen,” considered as B-sides from their 2022 album THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. Their live EP, PUP Unravels Lives In Front of Everyone They Know, is also out now. Listen to the songs below followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

PUP has spent the last year touring over 100+ dates over the span of 14 countries. The songs “How To Live With Yourself” and “Smoke Screen” were released in celebration of the band adding another leg of U.S and U.K tour dates.

On “How To Live With Yourself,” Stefan Babcock (vocals) says in a press release: “This was the first song we wrote when we started working on our last album. The first one is always the hardest, you tend to overthink everything, so we wanted to start with something simple and fun, something that we wouldn’t get too in our own heads about. This one feels like a classic PUP song to me, and while our goal for the record was to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and try new things, sometimes it feels good to write a catchy, miserable ripper that feels like it captures exactly what this band is about.”

On “Smoke Screen,” Bobcock says: “This song originated with a Nestor riff. He sent it around, and the thing was so slow that I thought he’d exported it wrong. But his idea was to do a song that was like the “sludgey” version of PUP, something we’d never really done before. The more I listened to it, the more it grew on me. I remember in the height of the pandemic sitting in the backseat of my car at the Home Depot parking lot, anything to try and escape the house, and writing and recording all the lyrics on the spot.”

This entire LP was produced under the eye of Peter Katis, where the band was able to express more creative liberty. Instruments such as the piano, synths, and horns debuted in this PUP album, showing listeners that they’ve grown to express themselves they haven’t before.

Read our in-depth interview with PUP on the making of THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND.

PUP’s Steve Sladkowski has also been interviewed on our My Favorite Album issue.

PUP Tour Dates:

6/9 - Donington, UK @ Download Festival
6/10 - Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound
6/16 - Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
6/23 - Ysselsteyn, NL @ Jera On Air Festival
6/24 - Münster, DE @ Vainstream Festival
6/26 - Aarhus, DK @ VoxHall
6/28 - Essen, DE @ Zeche Carl
6/29 - Hannover, DE @ MusikZentrum
6/30 - Rotselaar, BE @ Rock Werchter
7/2 - Rotterdam, NL @ Metropolis
7/7 - Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
7/8 - Sherbrooke, QC @ Sherblues & Folk
7/21 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah Is For Lovers,
7/22 - Denver, CO @ Colorado Is For Lovers
8/5 - Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
9/11 - London, ON @ London Music Hall
9/12 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Café
9/14 - Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
9/15-9/17 - Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest

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