Toronto punk heroes PUP— comprised of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski— will release their highly anticipated forthcoming album Who Will Look After The Dogs? on May 2nd via Little Dipper / Rise Records. The band have already previewed the record with “Hallways” and “Paranoid,” and now they share another ripper entitled “Get Dumber” featuring long-time buddy and collaborator Jeff Rosenstock. On the scathing “Get Dumber,” with backing vocals and unintentionally flubbed lyrics from Jeff Rosenstock, PUP is classically searing in all the best ways.

Stefan Babcock says of the song, “I wrote “Get Dumber” in Jeff’s basement. I was house sitting for him while he was on tour. I recorded the first demo for it on his guitar using his mics and his computer. Maybe because the ghost of Jeff was in the room with me, I always imagined our voices on this song together, so I was very happy when he agreed to sing on it. 

“We recorded the vocals together, in the same room, facing each other. What that means is, we both had to nail it at the same time because we couldn’t really cut between takes. On the first take, he forgot a line in the second verse and said “ahhhhhh, lyrics” instead. I couldn’t finish the take because I was laughing too hard. Anyway, he practiced singing the correct lyrics but then we decided those lyrics kinda sucked and he should just stick to “ahhhh lyrics” because it’s funny and the song is called Get Dumber. We nailed it on the second take.”

But wait, there’s more! That’s right, a full blown co-headline tour with both PUP and Jeff Rosenstock – aptly titled “PUP + JEFF ROSENSTOCK PRESENT: A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS” – so we can hear songs like “Get Dumber” and more live. If you’ve been following along, this is not the first time PUP + Jeff have toured together – they did so, once, about 10 years ago. Here is some lore about how that went: 

Jeff’s van broke down. Twice.

Stefan fell face first into a pile of cactuses while he was hiking with Jeff and his face and hands swelled up to gigantic proportions

The sold out Denver show got cancelled because a blizzard stranded both bands in Wyoming

Steve ate a weird gas station sandwich when they were stuck in Wyoming and ended up with food poisoning, spewing out of both ends

All of Jeff’s gear got stolen out of his broken down van

PUP cancelled the last week of shows because Stefan ruptured a vocal cord, and then PUP wrote a record called The Dream Is Over, the title being a direct reference to that tour.

Let’s hope all goes well this time around, shall we?!

Ekko Astral will support on all US dates, and these shows go on-sale March 28 @ 10am local time- see below to find a show near you, and get your tickets at puptheband.com.

In regards to the ticket pricing, PUP says, “We are offering low-income tickets for this tour! There will be a limited amount of tickets for every show available for $20 at the venue box office*. We know times are shit and hope this helps some people down to the ol’ gig who wouldn’t otherwise be able to! And we must admit, we completely stole this idea from Los Campesinos! who have been doing it for a while and encouraging other bands to offer this as well, so thank you Los Campesinos! for the inspiration.”

*Minneapolis, San Antonio, Austin and SLC venues do not have a box office. Please see band socials for alternate pickup locations.

TOUR DATES

05/07/25 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO Birmingham*&

05/08/25 – Leeds, UK @ Project House*&

05/10/25 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz*&

05/11/25 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 (TV Studio)*&

05/12/25 – Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle University*&

05/13/25 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory*&

05/15/25 – Southampton, UK @ Engine Rooms*&

05/16/25 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town*&

05/18/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg*

05/20/25 – Cologne, DE @ Club Volta*

05/21/25 – Hamburg, DE @ Logo*

05/22/25 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44*

05/23/25 – Munich, DE @ Strom*

05/25/25 – Paris, FR @ Bellevilloise*

05/27/25 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Mon

05/28/25 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload

05/29/25 – València, ES @ Loco Club

05/30/25 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba

8/5/25 – Auckland, NZ @ Tuning Fork

8/6/25 – Wellington, NZ @ San Fran

8/8/25 – Brisbane, QLD @ Princess Theatre

8/9/25 – Sydney, NSW @ Metro Theatre

8/10/25 – Melbourne, VIC @ Northcote Theatre

8/12/25 – Adelaide, SA @ Hindley St. Music Hall

8/14/25 – Perth, WA @ Magnet House

9/3/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre ^

9/4/25 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ^

9/5/25 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed^

9/6/25 – Detroit, MI @ Russell Industrial Center ^

9/8/25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^

9/9/25 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! ^

9/10/25 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre ^

9/12/25 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^ 

9/13/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount ^

9/15/25 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner ^

9/17/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia ^

9/19/25 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^

9/20/25 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte ^

9/22/25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern ^

9/24/25 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^

9/25/25 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas ^

9/26/25 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^

9/27/25 – Austin, TX @ Radio East ^

9/30/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^

10/1/25 – San Diego, CA @ The Sound ^

10/2/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium ^

10/4/25 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^

10/6/25 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom ^

10/7/25 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^

10/9/25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at The Complex ^

10/11/25 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ^

* support from Illuminati Hotties

& support from Goo 

^ support from Ekko Astral

Photo Courtesy: Nestor Chumak