Song Review: If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will by PUP
If this song doesn’t kill you, it probably will in concert.
The last time I wrote about PUP was for the release of the single ‘DVP’ just a few short months ago. The group were teasing an album release while ramping up for the new year, and what a kick-off it has been. Since my last PUP article, ‘DVP’ got a fantastic new video and the band officially announced their sophomore release, The Dream Is Over, coming out on May 27th. The album announcement came bundled with a cheeky new track and video by the hard-hitting quartet, and like the typical fangirl I am, I listened and watched about 30 times in a row. “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” is a bit different, though — it’s completely fresh PUP content, which means I didn’t have months of shoddy live recordings to pour over it before the studio release. So how did I take it?
‘If This Tour’ doesn’t kick off in typical PUP fashion at all — the solitary opening guitar line is almost delicate, and definitely surprised me. Paired with Babcock’s raspy crooning, the start of the track was very reminiscent of Modern Baseball’s routine, and I wouldn’t be surprised if PUP picked up some songwriting cues during the bands’ recent shared tour. That being said, the punk roots of the song are immediately clear. ‘If This Tour’ is entirely about getting murderously sick of your bandmates on lengthy road trips (a potential inspiration again shared with Modern Baseball), and the lyrics intend to establish that pretty quickly. It can be a little bit cheesy at times — there are only so many ways you can say you want to dismember somebody, and that’s been covered at length in the past — but doesn’t necessarily make for a distraction. Folks identify with lyrics in many different ways, and I’d wager there’s a chunk of people out there who are ever excited to dedicate this track to an archenemy. There’s actually a pretty clever thematic transition right in the middle of a line (listen for “Buddy, I’m on — IT”) that really sets off the rest of the tune, which instantly put any lyrical worries to rest.
And when I say the tune sets off, I mean to actually say that shit hits the fan and doesn’t give you any opportunity to wipe yourself off. PUP changes tack on an absolute dime a few times within the roughly two-and-a-half minute run, which leaves few chances to digest what’s going on — not that you really need to. Once ‘If This Tour’ gets going it’s signature PUP all the way through. Gritty, sweaty, hectic, and exhausting — it’s all there in segmented chunks, switching from one to another at a breakneck pace that I’m excited to witness live. It may sound a little disjointed, but the distinct parts are actually a huge benefit when you consider the theme of the song itself. Each instrument feels like it’s trying to pull itself on top of the others in a fight for the listener’s attention, as if the band members are resolving their beef by pulling the audience towards their sonic corner. When they quickly realize it’s not working, all but the crunchy rhythm guitar drops out for a rousing chorus of “Why can’t we just get along?” before crashing fluidly back together again, the members realizing the advantages of cooperating, settling their differences, and spontaneously committing to creating beautiful chaos once more — isn’t that just heartwarming?
Verdict: A little bit too much red-light-green-light makes me prefer ‘DVP’, but ‘If This Tour’ definitely stands apart from other PUP fare and excites me for the upcoming The Dream Is Over. I probably don’t need anymore hype though, let’s be honest.
