Editor’s Note: Welcome to Quarantainment, Vanyaland’s new series on what to watch, what to hear, and how to deal as the world engages in social distancing to combat the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19. We’re all at home, we’re all online, and we’re all in this together. #StayTheFHome
Over the weekend, we noted that this past Saturday marked one year since PUP’s first of two spring shows at Royale in Boston, and apparently, our ears were ringing. Or maybe their ears were ringing. Either way, somebody’s ears were ringing, probably (?), because the Toronto punk band are back today (April 27) with “Anaphylaxis”, their first new music of 2020.
And the searing track comes at the right time, as “Anaphylaxis” — defined by the Mayo Clinic as a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction zig-zags across our mental state in proper PUP fashion, toying with themes of hypochondria and manic paranoia. Sign o’ the times, eh?
“I got the idea for the song when I was at my partner’s cottage and her cousin got stung by a bee and his whole head started to swell up,” says PUP singer Stefan Babcock. “His wife, although she was concerned, also thought it was pretty hilarious and started making fun of him even as they were headed to the hospital. He ended up being totally fine, but it was just funny to watch him freaking out and her just lighting him up at the same time. It reminded me of all the times I’ve started panicking for whatever reason and was convinced I was dying and the world was ending and no one would take me seriously. In retrospect, I always find those overreactions pretty funny. So we wrote a goofy song about being a hypochondriac and tried to make our guitars sound like bees at the beginning of it.”
It feels very appropriate. Watch the claymation video for “Anaphylaxis”, directed by Callum Scott-Dyson, after the Spotify jump below. And tell yourself it’s just allergies.
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