Last year, Toronto pop-punk greats PUP released a banger of an EP called This Place Sucks Ass. Earlier this year, PUP took part in Metallica’s goofy Metallica Blacklist project, covering “Holier Than Thou.” And today, PUP have returned with their first original music of 2021. They’ve just announced a tour, and to mark the occasion, they’ve shared the one-two punch of the new songs “Waiting” and “Kill Something.”

PUP recorded these new tracks with producer Peter Katis, who’s worked with Frightened Rabbit and Interpol and who won a damn Grammy for producing the National. Maybe that’s why these new songs sound bigger and more expansive than past PUP ragers. But the songs are still ragers. “Waiting” is a sugar-rush singalong, and it’s guest vocals from NOBRO’s Kathryn McCaughey. “Kill Something” has a big riff, a massive build, and a whole lot of horns and gang vocals that come roaring in at the climax.

Talking about “Waiting,” PUP frontman Stefan Babcock says:

“Waiting” came about by smashing the heaviest riff Nestor [Chumak] could write with the simplest, most uplifting chorus I could write, just to see what would happen. The results were very quintessentially PUP, in that the song is a flurry of darkness and anger through the joyous lens of four guys just happy to be here, four guys who don’t take themselves seriously enough to make music that doesn’t feel like fun, regardless of the subject matter.

Below, check out both songs and the band’s upcoming slate of dates.

TOUR DATES:
2/07-08 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre #
2/10 – Calgary, AB @ Big Four #
2/11 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Convention Centre #
2/14 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum #
4/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre ^*
4/02 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall ^*
4/03 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre ^*
4/05 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore ^*
4/09 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom ^
4/10 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^
4/11 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom ^+
4/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^+
4/24 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre ^+
4/27 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater ^+
4/28 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^+
4/29 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater ^+
5/01 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
5/03 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^+
5/04 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^+
5/05 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^+
5/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall ^+
5/07 – Washington, DC @ The Fillmore Silver Spring ^+
5/09 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom ^+
5/10 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues ^+
5/11 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^+
5/13 – Montreal, QC @ MTelus ^+
5/14 – Toronto, ON @ History ^+
7/06-09 – Cheltenham, UK @ 2000trees Festival
8/24-27 – Málaga, Spain @ Canela Party Festival

# with Billy Talent & NOBRO
^ with Pinkshift
* with Cloud Nothings
+ with Sheer Mag