For the rest of this year, we’re delighted to continue with our No Album Left Behind series, in which our core team of music critics reviews some of their favorite records we may have missed the first time around, looking back at some of the best overlooked releases of 2023.
During emo’s third wave, loquacious song titles reigned supreme. But with the fall of Fall Out Boy and the rise of fourth-wave emo revivalism (The Hotelier, Joyce Manor), those long song names mostly vanished. So it’s a great surprise to see Hot Mulligan writing tunes that border on the nonsensical, run-on sentence territory of the genre’s past. Why Would I Watch, the Michigan band’s third album, blends emo’s various outgrowths into a composite whole that is nothing short of thrilling, heady and unequivocally fun.
Fortunately, that chaos extends itself beyond the nomenclature. Lead vocalist Nathan “Tades” Sanville is almost always on the verge of screaming, straddling a fine line between fully singing and straight-up yelling. It’s similar to how many modern rappers don’t quite rap or sing exclusively but inject their rhymes with minute hints of melody. Here, Sanville’s seething voice infuses the record with a passionate, heart-on-your-sleeve aura that keeps your attention at all times. This isn’t music that fades into the background. When Sanville unleashes his verbose, throat-shredding hooks, it’s impossible to focus on anything else, and that’s one of Why Would I Watch’s greatest strengths. The momentum truly never lets up. Brandon Blakeley’s high-energy drumming and Ryan “Spicy” Malicsi’s blazing guitar leads are also major contributing factors to the kinetic frenzy. Aside from the record’s brief acoustic centerpiece about Sanville’s deceased pet rat Betty, Hot Mulligan floors it for approximately 40 minutes straight.
Even with its maximalist heft, Hot Mulligan’s mood board is so varied that there’s something appealing to all types of emo and pop-punk aficionados. Take “No Shoes in the Coffee Shop (Or Socks),” which shifts from melodic guitar lines to an anthemic, hooky chorus that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Warped Tour amphitheater. “Christ Alive My Toe Dammit Hurts” is playful with its pop-punk propensity, but Sanville’s visceral screams give it some acerbic zest, especially when you take a look at the self-effacing lyrical content. There’s even the aforementioned mid-album ballad in the form of “Betty.” For the early standout “This Song Is Called It’s Called What It’s Called,” the band channels American Football’s twinkling, tessellated guitar patterns that are a staple of Midwest emo, only to speed it up and crank the volume by the time the first verse ends.
Despite its peppy atmosphere and relentlessly catchy songs, Why Would I Watch lurks with gloom beneath the scintillating surface. “Shhhh! Golf Is On” explores Sanville’s fraught relationship with his mother to a harrowing degree: wishing for her death. “Let the locusts have your home / They’ll feel the same / And I’ll feel the same,” he barks. “It’s a Family Movie She Hates Her Dad” traces familial strife from another angle in the form of addiction, as guitarist and co-vocalist Chris Freeman worries about whether he’ll repeat his family’s behaviors with alcohol abuse: “I saw my family off their face as I was graduating,” Freeman belts in the chorus. Closing track “John ‘the Rock’ Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker” examines Sanville’s body dysmorphia and its genesis from his Christian upbringing. “All those scars are hard to hide / I’m still sleeping fully clothed,” he sings.
Other recurring motifs include blurred memories from excessive drinking; feeling like an insufficient grandson, debilitating anxiety—the list goes on. The disquieting subject material, rather than butting heads with the sugary instrumentation, strangely complements it. Why Would I Watch brims with cathartic bursts, and lyrics as biting as these are meant to be shouted rather than sung. It’s a good thing Sanville and Freeman do exactly that. Both vocalists, like the dueling voices heard in groups like Taking Back Sunday, Blink-182 and Tigers Jaw, are a boon to each other. Sanville’s harsh delivery and Freeman’s smooth falsetto pair like yin and yang.
Because of its deft nuance and shameless candor alike, Why Would I Watch is the best emo album of 2023, blending the genre’s various waves into an intoxicating swirl. Punchy, compelling and forthright, Hot Mulligan’s latest is nothing short of a pure gem. It’s the kind of album that feels significantly shorter than it actually is. We’re invariably told to appreciate the present moment, recognizing that the fun times never last. One of the best things about Why Would I Watch, though, is hitting that replay button and experiencing it all over again.
Grant Sharples is a writer, journalist and critic in Kansas City. He writes the Best New Indie column at UPROXX. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, Stereogum, The Ringer, Los Angeles Review of Books and other publications.
