PUP Who Will Look After The Dogs?

Critic's Take

PUP have swapped bratty bravado for a measured reckoning on Who Will Look After the Dogs? The reviewer's tone stays empathetic and wry, noting that quieter cuts like “Needed to Hear It” and “Shut Up” emerge as the album's best songs by proving the band can age without selling out. There is still bite in tracks such as “Concrete” and “Cruel”, but it's the slower, mid-tempo romps that stick, giving this record its surprising heart. The voice here is affectionate and evaluative, rooting for growth even as it mourns the loss of old party thrills.

Key Points

• The best song is the closer "Shut Up" because its intimate production and band unity emotionally rescue the album.
• The album's core strengths are honest reflections on aging and tighter, more mature songwriting that favors slower, mid-tempo tracks.

Themes

Critic's Take

In a voice that still bristles with caustic self-pity, PUP make Who Will Look After The Dogs? feel like a bruised, honest middle-aged burnout trip. The record's best tracks - notably “No Hope” and “Hallways” - sell that aching sincerity, trading pogo-punk gloss for a sadder, sturdier conviction. There are missteps, from the abrasive single “Olive Garden” to occasional artless candour, but the album’s core strength is its unsettling, believable wearying of spirit. This is not peak PUP, yet these songs are the best evidence the band still know how to make emotional damage sound like art.

Key Points

• "No Hope" best exemplifies the album's sincere, burned-out emotional core.
• The album's core strength is its raw, believable middle-aged fatigue and painful sincerity.

Themes

Critic's Take

PUP's fifth LP, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, is crunchy, self-deprecating and stadium-ready, with standout moments that make you want to know the best tracks on Who Will Look After The Dogs?. The reviewer's enthusiasm lands squarely on “No Hope” for its explosive opening and anthemic chorus, and on “Hallways” as a clear winner - a contender for one of PUP's best songs ever thanks to its crystalline, title-giving line. Other highlights like “Concrete” and “Get Dumber” supply memorable riffs and guest fire, but it is the cathartic singalongs that mark the best songs on the record. Overall, the album balances hefty production choices with vulnerable lyricism to deliver PUP at their most blunt and affecting.

Key Points

• The best song is "Hallways" because it combines a crystalline lyric with emotional resonance and supplies the album's title line.
• The album's core strengths are anthemic choruses, raw vulnerability, memorable guitar work, and punchy production that balance accessibility with punk aggression.

Themes

Critic's Take

PUP sound, on Who Will Look After The Dogs?, like a sunny day edged by a storm, where the best songs mix tenderness and bite. The review singles out “Hallways” and “Best Revenge” as tracks that refresh the band's palette, and it notes how “Olive Garden” carries that witty, unserious attitude that never gets old. There is praise for the balance between upbeat pop-punk foundations and lingering emo influences, which is why many listeners will search for the best tracks on Who Will Look After The Dogs? and find these standouts compelling. The record tugs at the heartstrings while still leaping through fields of melancholy, making its top songs feel both familiar and newly vital.

Key Points

• The best song(s) stand out by blending pop-punk energy with atypical, melancholic nuances, notably “Hallways” and “Best Revenge”.
• The album’s core strengths are its bittersweet storytelling, balance of upbeat foundations with emo influences, and a refreshing, witty tone.

Themes

Critic's Take

PUP sound more raw and unflinching on Who Will Look After The Dogs? than on previous records, the album's best songs - notably “No Hope” and “Get Dumber - feat. Jeff Rosenstock” - splice personal trauma with the band's morbid, maudlin humour. Mischa Pearlman's prose is fond of the comic and the catastrophic, and here that voice elevates the moments where Stefan Babcock's unraveling becomes urgent rather than merely theatrical. If you want to know the best tracks on Who Will Look After The Dogs?, listen for those songs that turn existential questions into fist-pumping punk without losing their bleak wit. These are the cuts that make the record feel intensely personal and viscerally alive.

Key Points

• The best song(s) distill Stefan Babcock's personal unraveling into punchy, bleakly funny punk.
• The album's core strengths are its raw personal themes, dark humour, and intensified emotional directness.

Themes

Critic's Take

PUP keep charging through the mess on Who Will Look After The Dogs?, and the best songs - notably “Hallways” and “Get Dumber” - show why their blend of dark honesty and sing-along hooks still hits. Rob Sheffield’s voice stays wry and affectionate, noting Stefan Babcock’s knack for self-sabotaging one-liners and big-pop-punk choruses that land hard. The review points to “Olive Garden” as a surprise sincere love song, while the title’s running themes of break-ups, breakdowns, and dogged loyalty tie the record together. This is an album where the best tracks on Who Will Look After The Dogs? balance miserablist lyrics with uplift, and that balance is what makes these songs stick.

Key Points

• The best song is "Hallways" because it pairs high-speed hooks with a life-affirming, memorable chorus.
• The album's core strengths are darkly honest lyrics balanced by warm camaraderie and sing-along punk energy.

Themes

Critic's Take

PUP's fifth album, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, feels like a band reconciling with itself, equal parts frazzled and resolute. The reviewer's ear is caught by the quieter introspection in “Hallways” and the lyrical wit of “Concrete”, which make them two of the best songs on the album. For pure chaos and fire, “Get Dumber” stands out as one of the best tracks on Who Will Look After The Dogs?, while the back half — culminating in “Shut Up” and “Best Revenge” — supplies the album's most reflective, gut-spilling moments. Overall, it is the same prickly PUP, sharpened by clarity and maturity, delivering focused intensity and songs that linger.

Key Points

• The best song is the closer “Shut Up” because it culminates the album's reflective, gut-spilling arc.
• The album's core strengths are focused intensity, lyrical wit, and a balance of frazzled cacophony with mature clarity.

Themes