Album Reviews

Hot Mulligan has always been a band that somehow managed to combine emotionally raw lyrics, absurd song titles, and a sound that ricochets between chaos and catharsis without making it sound forced. On their fourth record, The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, they lean into all of it. The result isn’t flawless, but it’s an album that proves the Michigan quintet still have plenty to say, and plenty of ways to surprise.

The record begins on an almost deceptive note with ‘Moving to Bed Bug Island,’ a slow burn that slips unexpectedly into the energy of ‘And a Big Load.’ Fun fact: the band claims they named the song so that any news posts would have the title ‘Hot Mulligan drops new single ‘And A Big Load.’ 

From there, the album carves a path through Hot Mulligan’s now-familiar balancing act of abrasive riffs and noodling, confessional storytelling and self-deprecating humour and punchy hooks facing off with controlled chaos. Whether it’s the bittersweet tenderness of ‘Milam Minute’ or the frantic energy of ‘Monster Burger and a $5 Beer,’ the band prove they can still shift gears without breaking a sweat.

Lyrically, it’s some of their most vulnerable work to date. Tracks like ‘Monica Lewinskibidi’ and the closing ‘My Dad Told Me To Write a Nice One For Nana So Here It Is’ form part of a grief-stricken trilogy for vocalist Tades Sanville’s late grandmother, offering a depth that cuts harder than the titles suggest. Elsewhere, familiar themes of instability, overthinking, and searching for balance run through the album, making it one of their most thematically cohesive projects yet.

That said, The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still doesn’t quite reach the same immediate highs as Why Would I Watch. There are fewer instant anthems, and at 16 tracks, it feels overstuffed. 

Ultimately, this record is Hot Mulligan at their most self-assured. Chaotic yet considered, silly yet sincere, it captures what has always made them compelling: a band unafraid to bare their insecurities while still finding humour in the mess. It may not be perfect, but it takes them one step further in solidifying their place as one of the most endearing acts in modern emo-punk

The Sound A Body Makes When It's Still tracklist:

1. Moving to Bed Bug Island
2. And a Big Load
3. It Smells Like Fudge Axe in Here
4. Island in the Sun (feat. Cory Castro of Free Throw)
5. Bon Jonah 
6. This Makes Me Yummy
7. Monica Lewinskibidi
8. Milam Minute
9. Cream of Wheat of Feet Naw Cream of (feat.)
10. Mix Master Wade on the Beat
11. Carbon Monoxide Hotel
12. This Makes Me Yucky
13. Let Me See Your Mounts
14. Monster Burger and a $5 Beer
15. Slumdog Scungillionaire
16. My Dad Told Me to Write a Nice One for Nana So This Is It