Hot Mulligan - You'll Be Fine

This modern wave of Emo is flat out freaking awesome. I got to see Hot Mulligan in Texas and Philadelphia, and let me tell you their live show is exactly what you hope. They let it all out on stage. Singer Nathan Sanville is what you want from an Emo front man. Pure passion. Musically, they're always on point. Drummer Brandon Blakeley doesn't miss a beat. One thing that I always look out for is an artists gear, and both guitarists: Chris Freeman and Ryan Malisci both rock Reverend Guitars, so does bassist Garrett Willig. I don't attribute their skill at all to their instruments, but it's always awesome when a band like this takes their sound a little more seriously. It's easy to let Emo sound garage-y and unproduced, it's part of the aesthetic. These guys however, have cultivated a honed purity in their live show and they've brought it to their latest record "You'll Be Fine."

Their 2018 full length debut, Pilot, turned plenty of heads. Their sophomore album cements them as not just a "one album wonder" like so many bands in this genre. It's tough to be stand out or do anything that hasn't been done before, but these guys have found a niche in the scene. The album opens with OG Blue Sky. Clearly, Sanville's delivery should be touted here; the mix of screaming and yelling begs you to sing along at the top of your lungs. The overdriven clean electric guitars accent his emotive vocals in a way that is common place in the scene but he stands out in the in between. He's desperate and pleading. Apologetic and confessional. "I lost the pictures we had" hits you with such sorrow, while the hammer-ons carry the intro song into your memory banks. 

Tracks 2 and 3, *Equip Sunglasses* and Feal Like Crab were used to build up the hype for the album as singles released prior to the drop. *Equip Sunglasses* came with a throw back video and some catchy damn hooks. They've gotten no less catchy but lyrically Sanville has grown into his own. He's perceptive, calling out fake peoples bullshit. On Feal Like Crab he begins to sound and feel a bit like Bukowski. Saying he'd rather be alone and rotting in his coffin. Here the guitars crawl down a familiar decrescendo for a chorus into a bridge of Sanville screaming for what feels like attention. This is Emo at it's absolute best. Familiar themes, catchy melodies and an honest delivery. 

Track 4; Green Squirrel in Pretty Bad Shape, Freeman gets to take center stage on vocals. It's clear why the guitars work so well with the vocals in Hot Mulligan. The emotion in both vocalists voice compliment each other, but in this track you can tell the guitar work takes a bit of a back seat to allow for Freeman to get his voice on tape. It's by no means bad, it's a great track, but it's definitely one of the least technical Hot Mulligan has created. 5, Dirty Office Bongos, Sanville is back in front and immediately the quick hammer ons and pull offs are back. There's a ton of loss in this album lyrically. Getting calls on the road, missing Sanville's grandmother, not being worth enough. You're in for a sad ride if you're reading along with the lyrics, but it wont stop you from tapping your foot. 6, Analog Fade (New Bule Sky) is probably the most classic 90s emo track of the album. If Mike Kinsella was on vocals I'd say this was American Football. More props to HM for diving between genres here. These kids are definitely the present and future of Emo. 

7, We're Gonna Make It to Kilby! feels very much like a writing exercise, in which Sanville would obviously get an A. Unless he had my english teachers, in which case he'd be told he's better at Math. Towards the end of You'll Be Fine, we start to the hear a sonic shift in the band. They're heavier, cleaner, more technical, just better than I've ever heard them. The VERY subtle pick slide here is definitely worth listening for. Because Track 8, Digging In needs you to be focusing on guitar work. The ups and downs and pinch harmonics of the intro here make me believe these guys will be tweaking and forging the way forward for Emo. This track lyrically hits you right in the gut. I won't try and capture it here, just pull up the lyrics and turn it up. Loud. If You'll Be Fine has a ballad, it's SPS. Track 9. Again HM here is pushing their sonic envelope. 

BCKYRD, another pre-release track brings the album to it's close with some familiarity. It's not new, since we've all heard it prior to release but it's gosh dang classic Hot Mulligan. Piercing vocals, guitar chops, a bass line that carries the track that is so perfect Willig almost gets forgotten. He absolutely carries the melodies for Sanville and Freeman. "Things don't get better, just different" is exactly the kind of line you'll be singing at the top of your lungs from the passenger seat or from the wall you're holding up at their show. 

The album closes with, from what I can assume from the title, was going to be an intro but ended up being the outro. It's great as an outro, it carries the sentiment of the title of the album. You'll Be Fine, feels as much like a proclamation as some self hope Sanville is giving to himself. The neck pick up on those reverend guitars is heard here in full. More unexpected genre-bending, while still fitting in the cookie cuter Emo archetype is the only way I can describe the last track, The Song Formerly Known As Intro. If you've made it this far in the album or in this review, you won't be disappointed and you probably are going to start the album over as soon as this track is done. I'd turn it up just a little bit more on the second listen, it's okay; You'll Be Fine.