The Sonic Risks of PUP and Rico Nasty
On their new albums, the punk rockers and rapper break all the rules.
The punk rock and rap of PUP and Rico Nasty. Rico Nasty backstage at Knitting Factory, 2018.
The Canadian punk rockers—whose name stands for Pathetic Use of Potential, a sentiment I can get behind—just put out their fifth studio album, evocatively titled Who Will Look After the Dogs?
And as the title implies, it’s about relationships—the bad ones. Those love affairs that curdle, those forms of dislike you can only really cultivate when you know someone a little too well.
“Staring into the void now / You’re going down with the ship / You’re taking me with you / I don’t need to resist, it’s just what it is.
PUP has always been forthright regarding what their albums are about—from their breakout second album, The Dream Is Over, to their punk-rock classic Morbid Stuff. And that’s the case here, too.
Author's summary: PUP and Rico Nasty break rules with new albums.