Hot Mulligan announce new EP, 'I Won't Reach Out To You' (stream a track)

Hot Mulligan‘s 2020 album You’ll Be Fine (No Sleep Records) was one of 2020’s catchiest and most-loved emo-pop records, so it’s exciting news that they’ll be following it with a new EP, I Won’t Reach Out To You, on May 28 via the new Wax Bodega (pre-order). The EP was recorded with Crime In Stereo/Daytrader member Gary Cioni (who also engineered You’ll Be Fine and works with Grayscale, Free Throw, and more), and the band says it’s about relationships that die out over time. “It’s not always about not reaching out to someone because they’re toxic,” says guitarist/backing vocalist Chris Freeman. “It’s just because people grow apart.” Chris also adds that the EP is about “reminiscing on people you knew in the past, but acknowledging that the past is the past.”

The EP’s first single is “Pop Shuvit (Hall of Meat, Duh),” which is some of Hot Mulligan’s poppiest stuff yet. Much of You’ll Be Fine balanced out the band’s sugary hooks with a gritty punk side, but this new one finds them offering up shiny, pop punk-adjacent power pop. It’s the kinda song that’ll bring you back to late 2000s Fuse countdowns and Warped Tour comps, but mixed with the fresh sound and perspective of the current DIY scene. Check it out below.