But who will look after PUP?

Who Will Look After The Dogs?, the title for their fifth studio album, was conceived back in 2022. It came from frontman Stefan Babcock’s mind during a moment of personal turmoil – only a week after their previous record, The Unraveling Of PUPTheBand, was released. “When I look back on that dark stuff, it’s very humorous,” Babcock says, referencing the track “Hallways”, which details the breakdown of a long-term relationship and channels what he now acknowledges is a real panic around who would look after his dog if he died.

“Most people say or at least think the most insane shit when they’re in a dark place,” he explains. “You often realise how overdramatic you’ve been, or how your brain has been churning in a completely different way than you’re used to, and that can be funny in itself. I think that’s where a lot of the perspective from the songs come from – looking back on darkness from a better place, and finding the humour and the ridiculousness in it.”

While the four Toronto natives no longer live in the same area anymore – Babcock splits his time between Los Angeles and his home city – PUP have a road-worn telekinesis, retaining the same line-up since they started out as Topanga in 2010. Speaking to BEST FIT from his home studio, bassist Nestor Chumak chalks up their strong relationship to the countless hours spent in the van. “We’ve known each other for almost 20 years now – I grew up on the same street as our drummer, Zack. We all deeply care for each other and for the band. It’s such an important part of our lives. Everyone in the band feels valid, even when things are bad.”

Working with indie rock producer John Congleton, whose work includes records by Mannequin Pussy, St Vincent, and Death Cab For Cutie, the band were able to embrace their tendency to squabble over small details, reassuring themselves that not every song needed a painstaking number of takes before they were satisfied with the final product. “Get Dumber” includes a part where Jeff Rosenstock chimes in with the line, “Aaahhh, lyrics,” a take that would usually be left on the cutting room floor with the other outtakes, but PUP decided to keep it in anyway. “We all just thought it was so fucking funny! Jeff kept telling us he had no idea how to sing this line so that’s what came out. The lyric in the first place wasn’t great or important – this gave it way more character,” says Babcock.

Babcock makes a point of explaining that despite Chumak rarely speaking in band interviews, they wouldn’t be the same without him: Chumak is responsible for recording the demo versions of each song in a jam space before the rest of PUP get together and agree on what songs will make it onto the album. Congleton worked with 15–30 demo ideas, then asked PUP to condense them down to 12 and re-record everything using his arsenal of musical equipment.

In the case of “Hunger For Death”, this meant reworking the song from scratch. “As a band that still constantly argues with one another, there was less of that this time, because we know what battles to pick,” says Chumak “Once we got to the studio with these songs, things flowed a lot better – it was a very positive experience.”

With Who Will Look After The Dogs?, PUP have veered away from narrative-heavy, almost theatrical moments such as “Scorpion Hill” and “Robot Writes A Love Song”. Instead, Babcock anchors himself back to personal eccentricities with cuts like “Olive Garden”, wherein PUP wanted to write sweet vocal lines but with everything else being as “disgustingly heavy and grindy as possible. It gave the song a special je ne sais quoi,” Babcock ponders. As for where the song title came from, Chumak and Babcock agree that it’s PUP’s go-to place if they’re staying in the middle of nowhere while touring the US. “It’s a magical place!” Chumak chuckles.

Babcock confirms that PUP simply could not work with anyone else, because they all feel that nobody is replaceable. While relationships can be strained due to clashing personalities, the respect and love they have for one another eclipses that. “It’s either stick together, or toss the whole thing in the trash,” he states. “Even when we are pissed off with each other, there’s a lot of acknowledging that we have our own special skill sets. There’s no world in which I could do any of the things that Nestor does.”

On The Unraveling Of PUPTheBand, PUP embraced how the band itself had become a business and relished in how ludicrous yet realistic that concept had become for them. Known for their relentless touring schedules across the world, especially in their debut self-titled album era, Chumak and Babcock agree that PUP came from one of the last generations of music before platforms such as TikTok became such an imperative part of the industry. They were able to build momentum organically by being on the road for months at a time.

“Our strength was hitting the road and we were happy to play to 10–15 people a night at the beginning – we were just stoked to be out there doing it,” Babcock admits. “In that way, it’s changed for a lot of younger bands, where that’s just not a feasible way of doing things anymore. I’m grateful we got to do that, because I think there was a lot of character-building in those early days. You get to know somebody differently when you spend 300 days sleeping on people’s floors together and playing shows to three people, and then the next night 300. It is such an intense experience that you don’t really get when going on tour for two weeks. Shorter stints feel more like vacation, and everyone’s on simultaneously best and worst behaviour.”

On the flipside, Chumak says that from a technical standpoint, it’s much easier to record now than ever before and, despite the rise of inflation for travel costs, sometimes cheaper. “We don’t even use amplifiers on stage – we have our equipment that you can fly around everywhere with, which is definitely one of the better aspects of touring in 2025,” he explains.

With PUP’s own headline tour across the world starting with a house show in their hometown, 2024 saw them play for audiences that may have been hearing them for the first time. Having opened for the likes of Jimmy Eat World in the UK and Sum 41’s final shows in Canada, Babcock and Chumak agree that it can be a double edged sword when it comes to playing arenas, even if they get to share the stage with some of their biggest musical heroes. Babcock accepts that when it comes to signing on for these opportunities, there’s a freedom in being able to “not give a shit who we play to.”

“For most bands, as [they] get bigger, they have to adapt how they communicate with the audience and with other people on stage,” Babcock says. “We like to think that we still act how we did back in 2016, when we played The Joiners in Southampton,” an infamous show by all accounts. “When you meet certain artists, they are down to earth with you but act completely differently on stage. Part of why we have never changed how we behave onstage is impostor syndrome and self-deprecation, which is something many people can relate to, but at this point anyone who knows us will find comfort in the fact that we stay the same, wherever we are, and whoever we play to. There’s no acting going on here.”

Despite having won Juno awards over the last few years, mainstream recognition is simply not on their agenda. They are the top dogs in their own world. When asked if there’s anyone famous who has ever endorsed PUP, Babcock and Chumak struggle to think of anyone off the top of their heads. “There’s a Canadian pitcher called John Axford and a few alternative comedians who have shouted at us out, but honestly, who gives a shit?”