Album Review: I Won't Reach Out To You by Hot Mulligan (by Lara Roberts)

Hailing from Michigan, Hot Mulligan have that perfect blend of pop-punk and emo that those of us growing up in the late 90s and early 00s had as the soundtrack to our teenage years (just me?). What they’ve done perfectly is take this iconic sound and modernise it, but keeping it true to that original, emotionally charged pop-punk sound.

This 5-track EP opens up gently with the ethereal sounding, dream-like One For The Boy. With the lyrics “Stay home, stay home” repeated over and over, you can’t help but think back to those early, unknown days of 2020. The vocals are almost lost amongst the guitars, completely capturing that feeling of what the world felt back then – confusion and uncertainty – but hearing those words over and over, drowned out in the background – Stay home, stay home.

In complete contrast to the opener, Featuring Mark Hoppus is a fun, catchy, straight-up pop-punk tune. It’s much fuller-bodied, and has that classic pop-punk subject – girls. We’re looking back on lost love, coming of age, and high school crushes. This tune doesn’t come up for air, and it ends as abruptly as it starts. The title, Featuring Mark Hoppus, is (I assume) a friendly crack at Hoppus being featured on almost every pop-punk release of the last 10 years or so. He doesn’t feature on this EP.

It’s almost as though Nathan Sanville’s voice was designed to make the music Hot Mulligan are producing. Losing Days opens with a brief acoustic guitar and Sanville driving out the lyrics, as though there isn’t enough force in his body to make them any louder, urgent, or important. After screaming “Forget it” over and over, we’re hit with power chords, melodic guitars, and pounding drums, easily transforming this one into an instant pop-punk classic.

Pop Shuvit (Hall Of Meat, Duh) really hones in on that modernisation of the pop-punk sound. There’s a neon/electronic sound to it, but it’s incredibly subtle and adds to the song rather than taking it over. A catchy little number, with an upbeat chorus.

The closer on this EP, Please Don’t Cry, You Have Swag, echoes the opening track, recycling the lyrics and the soft guitar. It’s a lovely, gentle little song with raw vocals and honest lyrics, before exploding into a brief but desperate chorus of “stay home, stay home”. A visceral, reflective, emo-pop ballad which closes the EP beautifully.

First of all, I want to point out how great the song titles are. It’s something I’ve come to expect from bands with an emo thread, and Hot Mulligan deliver. That aside, the only negative I can think of is that there are only 5 tracks, coming in at just under 12 minutes. If you are a fan of pop-punk and emo in any form, and particularly enjoyed the brief life of Sadboi pop-punk, then I’m pretty confident that you’ll enjoy this EP and any of Hot Mulligans’ previous releases.

Stream and download I Won't Reach Out To You on Bandcamp here.

Like Hot Mulligan on Facebook here.

This review was written by Lara Roberts.