Song Review: DVP by PUP
Don’t forget to breathe, because this song doesn’t want you to.
It’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly PUP exploded onto the scene. Following a name change spurred by Disney’s habit of nostalgia-destroying remakes and heartbreaks, the quartet seemingly sprung from the quiet neighbourhoods of west Toronto into the worldwide limelight with their debut self-titled album — which happened to be the record that inspired this entire writing project of mine. The group have been touring relentlessly for years now, headlining international tours, billeting endless festivals, and supporting bands on extensive domestic stints. Somehow during their travels, PUP found the time to write and record an entire forthcoming LP, with the single ‘DVP’ being the first release from the yet-to-be-named record that fans have been anxiously clamouring for since late 2013.
‘DVP’ has been a mainstay of PUP’s live sets for quite a while now. I remember first hearing it as early as 2014, and a live session recording from Chicago-based AudioTree has been floating around for quite a few months as well. The material itself isn’t new to me — I’ve been binging any new PUP I can get my hands on for years — but the production is entirely novel, and it shows. Using the term perfectionism seems totally paradoxical when describing a punk band’s sound, but the little details of ‘DVP’ can’t be coincidental. The contrasting crunches and squeals of the guitars are incredibly crisp — it usually takes me several listens to pick out the feathery details of a high-frequency accompaniment or to distinguish the muddy fuzz of the bass notes, but I managed to discern both on my second play-through. Even the isolated vocals, while incredibly foreign to my ears thanks to the umpteenth repetitions of the AudioTree live version, reflect minute adjustments that keep up with frontman Stefan’s snarling range.
As much as I love the mixing though, it would be disingenuous to ignore some of the balancing complaints I’ve encountered online. While it didn’t bother me personally, I did notice that most of the rhythm elements are tracked onto one channel and the remainder of the melody onto the other. This can create a strange effect when listening on earbuds, especially near the beginning of the song when the vocal entrance seems to escape from a vacuum in the frequencies. However, my portable Bose speaker didn’t reflect any of these issues, so it might be partially a question of listening apparatus.
The material itself, while varying very little between versions, is truly what fans have grown to crave from PUP. The track moves along at a frenetically passionate pace that will easily leave you winded within a minute of the 2:29 runtime — whether that irks or amps you entirely depends on your stamina for this kind of energetic fury. The reoccurring rhythmic interplay and syncopation between drums and accompaniment is one of my favourite aspects of ‘DVP’, especially when punctuated with the falsetto group vocals. Even the damningly resentful lyrics are spat amongst an overlaying chaotic assault of noise that provides the perfect foil to the vindictive songwriting tone. In the end, ‘DVP’ essentially provides everything that punks scream for and proves to be an explosive start to PUP’s 2016 release schedule.
Verdict: Fuck yes.
