Toronto punk heroes PUP—comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski—release their first new original songs of 2021 today, and announce their triumphant return to touring with a U.S. and Canadian run slated for 2022. Tickets will be available for pre-sale tomorrow courtesy of Spotify Fans First, as well as via a Seated fan club pre-sale, where $1 per pre-sale ticket will go towards the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. General on-sale is this Friday. See below to find a show near you and get your tickets HERE.

The two new PUP tracks, “Waiting” and “Kill Something,” were produced by GRAMMY-Award winner Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Kurt Vile). “Waiting,” which features fellow Canadian punk artist Kathryn McCaughey of NOBRO, is a riotous, joyful and ridiculously fun track that has everything you want from a PUP song, and more. Stefan explains why: “‘Waiting’ came about by smashing the heaviest riff Nestor 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.”

“Kill Something” is about Stefan’s dog Moose, who loves to destroy his favorite things, and then is sad that those things are destroyed.

PUP released Morbid Stuff in 2019 to critical acclaim, earning countless year-end nods from the likes of Pitchfork and NPR, their late-night debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the JUNO award for Alternative Album of The Year, the short list for the Polaris Music Prize, and sold-out shows across the globe. They then greeted 2020 with the aptly titled EP, This Place Sucks Ass, and the live album Live at The Electric Ballroom, the proceeds of which earned almost $30k for Critical Resistance + Breakaway Addiction Services in Toronto.

Photo Courtesy: Vanessa Heins