Review: Michigan based emo revivalist pop-punks Hot Mulligan have grown over the past decade from impressionable upstarts eager to make a dent in the scene they admired so greatly, to one of, if not the definitive leaders of the latest wave, taking up the mantle initially passed from the likes of New Found Glory to The Wonder Years. Sharpening their balancing act of twinkling math-rock noodles with angst-riddled, throat-shredding hooks, 2023's third full-length Why Would I Watch marked a maturity and refinement with heightened intricacy and more succinct compositions, while lyrically delving into confessionals regarding familial addiction, the fear of inherited drug dependency, and the rigors of living life on the road, while the heart-rendering acoustic ode to deceased feline 'Betty' offers the most intense emotional (cat) gut-punch.
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