Emo/Pop-Punk band Hot Mulligan just released their ridiculously good Opportunities EP!
Tracks:
1. If You Had Spun Out In Your Oldsmobile, This Probably Wouldn’t Have Happened 2. Pepsi Drink Coke (Verse) / The Hammer Guy Is At It Again 3. Wait For It 4. Dary 5. Something About A Bunch Of Dead Dogs 6. I Replied To Tyler With Three Blue Cars
Hot Mulligan is made up of Chris Freeman, Tades Sanville, Brendan Lambert, Garrett Willig, and Ryan Malicsi from Lansing, MI. Okay but first off, can we talk about these insanely wonderful and unique song titles?! Their two previous EPs Honest & Cunning and Fenton (2015) both feature the same witty and quirky style. Hot Mulligan creates the kind of music you instantly become desperate to hear live at a show, and their sound is reflective of simply listening to 5 very talented friends play songs together.
The first track is ‘If You Had Spun Out In Your Oldsmobile, This Probably Wouldn’t Have Happened’. It has fantastic writing, and you’ll curiously follow the lyrical story from beginning to end. There are unreciprocated notions and resentment-filled energy. One notable line is, “it’s not my fault that you won’t love me if I’m not useful anymore”. It was definitely a smart move to place this as the opening track of Opportunities.
Next we have ‘Pepsi Drink Coke (Verse)’ - called ‘The Hammer Guy Is At It Again’ on bandcamp - incorporates quick vocal delivery, and emotions that swirl throughout every part of the song. You get hints of bitterness, and just being completely done and over someone’s residual mess. However, in my opinion, the captivating instrumental moments of ‘Pepsi Drink Coke (Verse)’ deserve lots of praise and acknowledgment. It’s the main component that really made me think “whoa!”.
‘Wait For It’ is the more laid-back song on the EP – or so you might assume. Despite its mellow nature, it is undeniably vulnerable and honest. You’ll stop what you’re doing and pay attention to the strong vocal performance. At the end it picks up in a sense of desperation that’s incredibly pleasing but still impactful. That slow progression of power helps to make ‘Wait For It’ even more memorable.
I found ‘Dary’ to be especially poetic in the way it was written. It has the same animosity-driven lyrics as the other tracks, but there’s a uniqueness about this song. Maybe it’s the perfect combination of ingredients that work so well together, or how easy it probably is for a lot of people to relate to; I get what they’re saying and I think that’s a great thing to accomplish. I had a similar understanding of ‘Something About A Bunch Of Dead Dogs’. While remaining authentically personal, there’s an existence within each part that someone will be able to grasp on to and it could be exactly what they need to hear or what they’ve been feeling. Songs like this give me chills, in a good way. Anyone else?
Not gonna lie, I was a little taken aback by how emotionally deep ‘I Replied To Tyler With Three Blue Cars’ is. What is being expressed through lyrics and vocals can also be actively felt through the instrumentals alone. If you were to take out everything else, ‘I Replied To Tyler With Three Blue Cars’ would be just as gripping and effective. A secure way to finish out Opportunities, and ending on this more intensely somber note is precisely what the EP needed.
Opportunities is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, and more. You can get the EP over on Hot Mulligan’s bandcamp page, and pay what you want for a digital download. Check out Hot Mulligan at the places below to stay current on what they’re going to do next!
Alex Kilgore, Untold Music Promotion
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