Album review: Hot Mulligan – The Sound A Body Makes When It’s Still

‘Things don’t get better, just different,’ roared Tades Sanville on 2020’s You’ll Be Fine. The Hot Mulligan singer didn’t know how right he would be. Now over a decade into their prolific run of catchy, silly and unflinchingly honest emo, the Michigan lads are wrestling with some of life’s big questions on their fifth album, The Sound A Body Makes When It’s Still.

The irrepressible, spring-heeled energy of And A Big Load or Mix Master Wade On The Beat showcases how they’ve made a name for themselves: gleamingly sharp riffs and a tight-knit rhythm section, peppered with Midwestern emo leads and Tades’ splenetic lyrics delivered with a voice like a flamethrower. It’s a formula that has seen them rise to main stage status at Slam Dunk, and which they’ve refined to stagedive-baiting precision here.

Amid the goofy energy and even goofier song titles, there’s also been growth. The seventh track finds Tades reckoning with the grief of losing his grandma, Bonnie, in the way only a touring musician can: ‘It’s 5am in Tokyo, half a world away / I’m sitting in a parking lot, you’re laying in your grave.’ Regret, bargaining, and loss are all bundled up as Ryan Malicsi’s finger-knotting guitar noodling reflects the disorienting pace of life on the road. It’s tender, heartbreaking and just a shame it’s titled – big sigh – Monica Lewinskibidi.

The bittersweet Milam Minute – gently picked acoustic, a smattering of piano and regrets – shows Hot Mulligan can turn down the volume, without dialling down the intensity. It means that Slumdog Scungillionaire’s shift from glistening ’80s keyboards and swaying grooves into a screamo onslaught hits even harder, as Tades delivers a self-lacerating depressive episode of obliterating proportions. Yet there is hope once the storm passes, where acts of resilience as simple as watching birds and brushing your teeth speak louder than any breakdown.

Though they’d be the last to admit it, their fifth album is proof that they’re maturing into their elder emo status. Tades wasn’t entirely right in his earlier assessment either because Hot Mulligan are different, but they’re also getting better.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: The Wonder Years, Free Throw, PUP

The Sound A Body Makes When It's Still is released on August 22 via Wax Bodega