Review Summary: Stagnation Imminent or Good Music Division on 3rd (But Nice Quality Does!)
What is a Hot Mulligan? Idk, but I do know that #1 hot new band Hot Mulligan’s appeal is twofold: they are adorably awkward, and in spite of
and thanks to this the emo bois are capable of writing killer tunes [from time to time]. This former aspect renders writing
super srs music criticism about them somewhat, uh, difficult at times, but let’s try anyway. While the bulk of Hot Mulligan albums are solid semi-twinkly emo-yell takes on pop punk, older cuts like (sigh) “How Do You Know It’s Not Armadillo Shells?” and “Digging In” showed emotional depth that most of their peers lack on top of the trademark catchy hooks.
Unfortunately, this depth is often relegated to the sonic background and reserved for a song here and a moment there: the brand new
Why Would I Watch is no different. It’s not a bad album by any means - it’s pretty damn good - but the typical glimpses of pure excellence sprinkled throughout are starting to show that the band likely won’t be realising their full potential any time soon. Opening cuts (sigh) “Shouldn’t Have a Leg Hole But I Do” and “It’s a Family Movie She Hates Her Dad” are passable songs, blending shouty hooks and peppy rhythms, but feel like Hot Mulligan on Autopilot capital A. There’s really only so many songs that can be written with this formula (= have vocalist sing liKE THIS, noodly guitars, pop punk vibes, self deprecating lyrics) and after two full lengths it’s starting to feel a lil too saturated (and let’s be real: what’s the point when *Equip Sunglasses* exists?). Thankfully, not all of
Why Would I Watch follows the footsteps of these first two songs.
The spicy (no sigh!) “And I Smoke” adds delightful touches of post hardcore to the band’s palette, while retaining all of Hot Mulligan’s typical catchiness. Elsewhere, (sigh) “This Song Is Called It’s Called What It’s Called” presents itself as the record’s most dynamic track: it is quiet and loud and then quiet and then loud again! This is an excellent thing, but as is tradition, the band do not manage to stretch this excellence beyond the confines of the song. Rather than implementing the dynamically dreamy flourishes of this cut throughout the record, it represents a microcosm of could’ve-beens. As such, (sigh) “No Shoes In The Coffeeshop (Or Socks)” forms one of the album’s highlights by virtue of being as multifaceted as Hot Mulligan get: it encompasses both a pensively memorable chorus
and a catchy-as-hell cute singalongable riff! Yay!
In spite of all these mildly backhanded compliments,
Why Would I Watch is a great, highly listenable experience (outside of that whistle in “Betty”, but even that gets a pass for being adorably awkward and who am I to tell people not to grieve by whistling into a microphone right after “Christ Alive My Toe Dammit Hurts”, you know). There’s plenty of catchy choruses and punchy patterns to be found here (
AM I THE PROOOBLEM?) - it’s just a pity that there isn’t all that much more. At the end of the day, Hot Mulligan are in increasingly desperate need of stretching their legs more and further and deeper and coolerer. They don’t need to be making good albums: they could be making fantastic albums.
