Who Will Look After the Dogs?, the fifth full-length offering from Toronto punk band PUP, is not an album to listen to in the family car (which I did, unsuccessfully). It’s not an album to listen to on full volume while running trails in grizzly country (which I did, inadvisably). It’s an album best served live – singing along with hundreds of other sweaty fans, forgetting the world for a couple of hours.
Only, the last time the band played Edmonton, in January 2025 when they were opening for Sum 41 on the last leg of their farewell tour, the record was still four months away from its release. They still debuted a few songs from the album, but it was clear the connection gleaned from repeated listens hadn’t yet happened.
The record is now out — to critical acclaim, no less — and the band is back to give Edmonton audiences a raucous live show, performing for their devoted fanbase — who, if history holds, will have all the new lyrics memorized.
“Whenever we play live, it feels like people are singing along to every word,” says lead guitarist Steve Sladkowsi. “The music has connected in such a way that people find catharsis and a way through whatever is going on in their life – positive or negative – through these songs. They come to the shows and sing along and mosh and sweat and take care of each other in physical space. It’s really special.”
Growing up, the foursome — made up of Sladkowski, lead singer Stefan Babcock, drummer Zack Mykula and bassist Nestor Chumak — were embedded in the Toronto punk scene, a community that offered a sense of release and belonging. Similar emotions are palpable on Who Will Look After the Dogs?, an album that is hung on heartbreak – Babcock’s specifically.
Lyrically, it hones in on our darkest feelings after a breakup – including the line that inspired the album’s title: “I can’t die yet / Who would look after the dog?” – but, in keeping with PUP’s ethos, it’s buoyed by both upbeat, frenetic guitar and a helping of humour.