As Millennials hit the age where classic rock channels now include their music, it’s no surprise that acts are striking while the nostalgia iron is hot. And what better way to recall your youth than through emo music, the genre best-equipped for obsessing about love and death and hope and all of life’s big questions?
2025 has been a big year for emo milestones — My Chemical Romance headlined a stadium tour! Rilo Kiley reunited! The Academy Is… announced a 20th anniversary “Almost Here” tour! — but it hasn’t yielded much new music from the genre’s A-list.
Luckily, there’s a new generation of pop punkers who were heavily influenced by the bands of yesteryear, and among the best is Michigan-based Hot Mulligan, whose ambitious fourth album “The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still” dropped in August. Filled with tight riffs, sharp songwriting and lead singer Tades Sanville’s unique screams, it’s the kind of album that could sound more dazzling in a studio compared to a live setting. But unlike so many of their forebears who abandoned chops in order to focus on energy, Hot Mulligan amped things up while sounding great during their Nov. 8 headlining show at the Fillmore Philadelphia.
The band charged through the first side of “Sound a Body Makes” to start the set, with drummer Brandon Blakeley and bassist Jonah Kramer creating a twisty, moving foundation to anchor even the fastest pop-punk moments. The interplay of rhythm guitarist Chris Freeman and lead Ryan Malicsi was impressive, with fast riffing and tapping that evoked midwest emo heroes like American Football. Additionally, Sanville and Freeman’s co-mingling vocals were, depending on the moment, complementary in their harmony or shredded in their screaming, without screeching into off-key territory. It’s an impressive feat to see the band’s complex elements all lock in together, especially when many genre legends were eager to step aside and let the audience sing the high notes live.
Despite the band’s focus on craft, they were also there to have a good time and pass those vibes onto the audience. Sanville’s lengthy hair was flying as he stalked the stage, occasionally stopping to scream wildly, his body contorting as if struck by lightning. New album highlights “And a Big Load,” a breakneck dance party about the challenges of sobriety, and “Monica Lewinskibidi,” a hooky yet mournful tribute to missing a sick loved one on tour, were as sharp and blistering as anything in the band’s early work.
Meanwhile, the hugely energetic crowd was constantly crowdsurfing and smushing against the front rail. Electricity ran through the fans, with circle pits opening during older favorites like “Shhhh! Golf Is On,” “Equip Sunglasses” and “BCKYRD.”
Ultimately, for elder Millennial emo fans whose necks get tired from headbanging and feet get sore after standing (let alone moshing!) for a 90-minute set, it’s heartening to know bands like Hot Mulligan inspire the next generation of punks to get sweaty and crazy in the GA section.
(Pictured above: Hot Mulligan on the Nov. 7 Brooklyn stop of their tour.)
