Toronto punk quartet PUP are bringing back their old sound in a very literal way with their new single “Matilda,” an ode to frontman Stefan Babcock’s favorite guitar. The band also announced an expanded North American tour for this summer.
The song is told from the perspective of the forlorn six-string that Babcock used for seven years before retiring it at the request of his bandmates. “As the band got bigger, the pressure to sound better was building and so I bought a ‘good’ guitar and played Matilda less and less,” Babcock said in a statement. “I wrote this song based on this intense feeling of guilt and sadness and shame and nostalgia and regret, watching her rot away in a corner.”
Though the lyrics are rife with jealousy and contempt (“As you fret my frets decay/ You pick up your other and you strum away”), there’s also an endearing love that doesn’t go completely unrequited. “I convinced the band that Matilda deserved one last rip on a PUP record, and I played her during the bridge of this song,” Babcock shared. “It sounds so shitty. But good shitty. Great shitty. For me, it was the most joyful and cathartic moment in the entire making of this record.”
The new track arrives with a visual directed by Jefferson Dutton. It follows a fictionalized journey Matilda took as she passed hands from one amateur artist to a thrift store owner and finally to a young aspiring guitarist. The energy between the beat-up instrument and its new owner is kinetic; their connection literally lights up the room.
PUP’s fourth album THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND is out April 1st on Little Dipper/Rise Records. Pre-orders are ongoing.
The band just unveiled additional stops in the midwest and east coast for their 2022 North American tour, which now stretches into June and features Oceanator in a rotating support slot that already includes Cloud Nothings, Sheer Mag, and more. They’re also set to play at Coachella and Shaky Knees Festival in April and May. Find a seat to sit, or stay, with PUP via Ticketmaster.
PUP 2022 Tour Dates:
03/26 – Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre Music Theatre !
03/27 – Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks !
03/28 – Kingston, ON @ The Ale House !
03/29 – Peterborough, ON @ The Venue !
04/01 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre ^ *
04/02 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall ^ *
04/03 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre ^ *
04/05 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore ^ *
04/08 — Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom ^
04/09 — Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom ^
04/10 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^
04/11 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom ^ +
04/13 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades +^
04/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04/16 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^ +
04/17 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah +
04/18 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah ^
04/20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield+^
04/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda #^
04/22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04/24 — Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre ^ +
04/25 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater +^
04/27 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater ^ +
04/28 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^ +
04/29 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater ^ +
05/01 — Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
05/03 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^ +
05/04 — Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^ +
05/05 — Richmond, VA @ The National ^ +
05/06- – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall ^ +
05/07 — Washington, DC @ The Fillmore Silver Spring ^ +
05/09 — Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom ^ +
05/10 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues ^ +
05/11 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^ +
05/13 — Montreal, QC @ MTelus ^ +
05/14 — Toronto, ON @ History ^ +
05/15 — Toronto, ON @ History ^ +
06/03 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues $
06/04 – Royal Oak, MI @ The Royal Oak $
06/05 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s $
06/06 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom $
06/08 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Annex $
06/09 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada $
06/10 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant $
06/11 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl $
06/13 – Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall $
06/14 – Columbia, SC @ The Senate $
06/15 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa $
06/17 – Holyoke, MA @ Race Street Block Party $
06/18 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall $
07/08 – Cheltenham, UK @ 2000trees Festival
07/23 – Byron Bay, AU @ Splendour in the Grass
08/24-27 – Málaga, ES @ Canela Party Festival
10/12- Leeds, UK @ Leeds Beckett Students Union
10/13 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz
10/14 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse
10/16 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers
10/17 – Dublin, IE @ Academy 2
10/19 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
10/20 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
10/21 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute
10/23 – Paris, FR @ Backstage
10/24 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
10/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
10/26 – Köln, DE @ Bürgerhaus Stollwerck
10/28 – Berlin, DE @ So36
10/29 – Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy
10/30 – Prague, CZ @ Rock Cafe
11/01 – Milan, IT @ Bloom
11/02 – Munich, DE @ Strom
11/03 – Hamburg, DE @ Gruenspan
11/05 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
! = w/ Casper Skulls
# = w/ Billy Talent & NOBRO
^ = w/ Pinkshift
$ = w/ Oceanator
* = w/ Cloud Nothings
+ = w/ Sheer Mag
