It's in these moments – and the closing quartet of songs are absolutely brimming with this – that PUP finally make the leap from bratty punk oiks with a lot to say into punk poets with the means of expressing their rage and dissatisfaction. In fact, in ‘Hallways’, ‘
Best Revenge’ and ‘
Shut Up’, PUP find themselves on a different level to their peers and contemporaries. Punk music should hit hard, and it should be affecting, but these are songs that resonate long after they’ve finished.And this is where PUP are at their best. These are songs that you need to sit with, that need to be understood and digested soberly. There’s so much more here than just a sharp lyric and a pointed barb, but there’s real emotion – whether that’s distress, anger, regret, even joy – there. There are no easy answers, just four friends muddling their way through life and trying to put words to what their feeling. It’s the crowning glory of their peerless five-album run.
