Emo is not a new thing, but surely not an old thing, and certainly not a dead thing. Hot Mulligan provide evidence of all that with new studio album, Why Would I Watch (Wax Bodega). 

A vibrant, riotous track called ‘John “The Rock” Cena, Can You Smell What The Undertaker’, contains what might be the crux: “All of the pictures from when I was a kid, I am wearing the same coat, I’d say it was at least two sizes too big. But it covered from head to toe, I felt that I can’t hide enough.” Yeah, guys, we’ve all been there – all the way through the generations.

I’m showing my age/origins/inspirations, but the whole emo thing always reminded me of Jack Kerouac and the Beats. In case you don’t know, those guys weren’t “beat” simply because they were into the “beat”, the jazz and the bebop, or aiming for the “beatific” in all things. They were also “beat” because they were worn down – tired of life as it was, 1950s USA. They were SHATTERED, left outside – hoping one day to wake up to SOMETHING ELSE. They’d had “a belly full of drinks”, and a gutful of … bullshit. Emo surely nails that beat.

With shades and echoes of early Fall Out Boy, plus Bowling For Soup, Jimmy Eat World, and one of my all-time faves, Finch (2001’s What It Is To Burn, anyone?), Why Would I Watch (Wax Bodega) is punky, power-pop new-emo at its most engaging – hooky, loaded with personality, graced by realism, honesty, and emotional clarity. Subjects thrown into the mix include meditation, graduation, painting oceans. Singing in church. Shame, damage, bruises, and scars. Fathers and grandpas. Family is important, and, ultimately, love is more important than money. But then there’s paying the rent, stark regret, fear, significance, and (in)significance. 

It’s all short and sharp, right in the kisser. ‘This Song Is Called It’s Called What’s It Called’ is something of a relative epic at 4:17, with a dreamy opening, then desperate and resigned lyrics – “Oh there’s so much I would change” and “the worse is yet to come”. ‘No Shoes In The Coffee Shop (Or Socks)’ is a pure stand-out, very nicely played and sung, as is ‘Shhhh! Golf Is On’.

If you haven’t caught on already, the (extended) genre’s wordy, jokey titles are present and correct, often lacking in logic but setting out to rack up the yoks, with the likes of ‘Shouldn’t Have A Leg Hole But I Do’ (a strong, strong opener), and ‘Smahccked My Head Awf’ (another of the album’s highlights, with singer Tades Sanville to the fore, as so always). The one real exception, title-wise, the brief ‘Betty’, is an acoustic ballad with whistling, already – an ode to a pet, ultimately? ‘Cock Party 2 (Better Than The First)’ sets itself up as being melancholic and dramatic, before building to something of a climactic cockflagration (Sorry! Should have read “conflagration”. Yok!).

Old college pals who formed the band in Lansing, Michigan, 2014 (it says here, PR-wise), Hot Mulligan are the aforementioned Sanville, guitarists Chris Freeman and Ryan Malicsi, and drummer (take a bow) Brandon Blakeley. Full of pathos, genuine angst and anger, this fine album is, for me, as achingly nostalgic as it is fresh and vital. So go with the beat. The band are going on the road, this summer and beyond – check it out, Jack.

Buy the album here:

https://lnk.to/HMwhywouldiwatch

8 / 10

CALLUM REID