Toronto Punks PUP Pay Tribute To An Old Guitar On New Single “Matilda”; Announce Extra Tour Dates Ahead Of Upcoming Album

Ahead of their fourth album The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND, due April 1st via Little Dipper, Toronto punk favourites PUP have shared their latest single “Matilda”, an oddball love song about frontman Stefan Babcock’s old guitar.

“Matilda is the name of my favourite guitar. She was a gift from my friend Ryan, after watching me accidentally break the only guitar I owned in the middle of a long tour,” says Backbock. “I had no money to buy a replacement, and Ryan’s act of kindness is up there on my list of ‘nicest things anyone’s ever done for me’. I played Matilda nonstop for 7 years at every PUP show, even when my bandmates started complaining that she sounded like shit. As the band got bigger, the pressure to sound better was building and so I bought a ‘good’ guitar and played Matilda less and less. Before I knew it I hadn’t played her in over a year. I wrote this song based on this intense feeling of guilt and sadness and shame and nostalgia and regret, watching her rot away in a corner. I love this guitar and I love Ryan and wanted to do right by them, and I felt like I’d failed them both. I convinced the band that Matilda deserved one last rip on a PUP record, and I played her during the bridge of this song. It sounds so shitty. But good shitty. Great shitty. For me, it was the most joyful and cathartic moment in the entire making of this record.”

In line with their previous “love songs” about things that aren’t human, such as “Sleep In the Heat”, and “Mabu”, “Matilda” finds a soft spot amongst their chaotic melodies that will have you asking yourself “why am I crying about this?”.

In support of the new material, PUP will be heading out on an extensive tour this year (dates below).

Watch the video below and read more about THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND here.

Tour dates:

03/26/22 – Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre Music Theatre !

03/27/22 – Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks ! [SOLD OUT]

03/28/22 – Kingston, ON @ The Ale House !

03/29/22 – Peterborough, ON @ The Venue !

04/01/22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre *^

04/02/22 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *^

04/03/22 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre *^

04/05/22 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore *^

04/08/22 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom ^

04/09/22 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom ^ [SOLD OUT]

04/10/22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^ 

04/11/22 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom +^ 

04/13/22 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades +^

04/15/22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival

04/16/22 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren +^ 

04/17/22 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah + [SOLD OUT]

04/18/22 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah ^ [SOLD OUT]

04/20/22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield +^

04/21/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda #^

04/22/22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival

04/24/22 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre +^ 

04/25/22 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater +^ 

04/27/22 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater +^ 

04/28/22 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues +^ 

04/29/22 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater +^ 

05/01/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival

05/03/22 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel +^ 

05/04/22 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz +^ 

05/05/22 – Richmond, VA @ The National +^ 

05/06/22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall +^ 

05/07/22 – Washington, DC @ The Fillmore Silver Spring +^ 

05/09/22 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom +^ 

05/10/22 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues +^ 

05/11/22 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 +^ 

05/13/22 – Montreal, QC @ MTelus +^ 

05/14/22 – Toronto, ON @ History +^  [SOLD OUT]

05/15/22 – Toronto, ON @ History +^ 

06/03/22 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues $ 

06/04/22 – Royal Oak, MI @ The Royal Oak $

06/05/22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s $

06/06/22 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom $ 

06/08/22 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Annex $

06/09/22 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada $

06/10/22 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant $

06/11/22 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl $

06/13/22 – Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall $ 

06/14/22 – Columbia, SC @ The Senate $

06/15/22 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa $

06/17/22 – Holyoke, MA @ Race Street Block Party $

06/18/22 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall $

07/08/22 – Cheltenham, UK @ 2000trees Festival

07/23/22 – Byron Bay, Australia @ Splendour in the Grass

08/24/22 – 8/27/22 – Málaga, Spain @ Canela Party Festival

10/12/22 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Beckett Students Union 

10/13/22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz

10/14/22 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse 

10/16/22 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers 

10/17/22 – Dublin, IE @ Academy 2

10/19/22 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk

10/20/22 – Bristol, UK @ SWX

10/21/22 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute

10/23/22 – Paris, FR @ Backstage 

10/24/22 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique 

10/25/22 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg 

10/26/22 – Köln, DE @ Bürgerhaus Stollwerck 

10/28/22 – Berlin, DE @ So36 

10/29/22 – Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy

10/30/22 – Prague, CZ @ Rock Cafe

11/01/22 – Milan, IT @ Bloom 

11/02/22 – Munich, DE @ Strom

11/03/22 – Hamburg, DE @ Gruenspan

11/05/22 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset

! with support from Casper Skulls

* with support from Cloud Nothings

^ with support from Pinkshift

+ with support from Sheer Mag

# with support from Skegss

$ with support from Oceanator