C N T E N T S
WAVES OF EMO - 8
How does the emo genre keep reinventing itself generation after generation?
ORIGAMI ANGEL - 14
The importance of identity is at the heart of Feeling Not Found and a defining force behind the community they’ve built.
TEN EMO BANDS THAT SHAPED EMO CULTURE - 18
The emo culture is constantly growing and evolving through different waves. Here are our top ten picks for emo bands that shaped emo culture the most.
HOT MULLIGAN - 22
Hot Mulligan are unafraid to confront grief, paranoia and growth with both humor and vulnerability on their new album, The Sound A Body Makes When It’s Still.
ON YOUR RADAR - 28
Artists that you should know. No, really.
SATURDAYS AT YOUR PLACE - 30
saturdays at your place turned Midwestern mundanity into emo’s most comforting soundtrack.
UPCOMING TOURS - 36
Just when you think you’ve heard of them all, there’s more being announced.
OFF THE SHELF - 38
Hot off the press, we’ve picked out some albums you should check out next.
DESIGN + EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Victoria Goodwin
COVER PHOTO
Jaden Russell @jadenrussellphoto
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Avery Heeringa
ASSISTANT DESIGNER
Bethany Bluhm
Ashlyn Siples
FIND US melodicmag.com @melodicmag
OCT 2025 ISSUE 017
CONTRIBUTORS
Amber Bintliff, Brady Olson, Brittany Muldoon, Carl Markland, Damb Cabrera, Jaden Russell, Justice Petersen
THANK YOU
Big thank you to all the artists who took time out of their busy schedules to chat with Melodic Magazine and all of the teams behind the scenes. Special thanks to Hot Mulligan, saturdays are your place, Origami Angel, The Oriel Co., Many Hats Endeavors, and no earbuds.
REINVENTING EMO HOW
REINVENTING ITSELF KEEPS EMO
Photo: Carl Markland
What comes to mind when you think of emo music? For some, the word “emo” may bring to mind images of a young Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy with sideswept bangs and thickly lined eyes. For others, it may conjure memories of lying on the floor next to their stereo screaming along to the angsty lyrics during their early teenage years.
Emo music has historically been very polarizing with its mathy guitar riffs, crashing drums, and scream-sung vocal delivery. Often unpolished and a bit rough around the edges, the emo-sphere, as a whole, certainly isn’t for everyone. However, the genre has enjoyed steady popularity throughout the past few decades thanks to its raw honesty and relatability.
The first wave of emo rose up in the mid-1980s in Washington, D.C., as “emotional hardcore,” or “emocore,” with roots in hardcore punk, which was becoming more and more aggressive at the time.
Formed in 1983, Rites of Spring, who is now deemed a pioneer of the emo genre, shared in an interview with Mark Prindle that they “never recognized ‘emo’ as a genre of music.” Even though they themselves rejected the idea of an emo genre, they were one of the first to pivot away from hardcore punk’s increasingly violent style by becoming a little more poetic in their lyrics.
Several other bands in the punk scene soon followed suit, such as Embrace and Beefeater. This first
era is now known as “Revolution Summer” in the emo scene, referring to the period in which bands were experimenting with anti-violent sentiments and sounds.
Although the term “emo” was rejected by its very forefathers, the genre gained more traction in the 1990s. Leading to the second wave of the genre, it began to spread across the country and was already taking on different subgenres.
Most notably, what we now know as Midwest emo took hold across states like Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio. Characterized by mathy guitar riffs and sad-boy lyrics, Midwest emo was pioneered by the less hardcore and more polished styles of bands like American Football. But not all Midwest emo bands followed suit. Sunny Day Real Estate showcased a bit heavier of a sound and weren’t from the Midwest.
Moving west, emo started to mix with grunge and incorporate styles of bands like Nirvana into the music. Further splintering off from the initial emocore genre, the formation of what some would call screamo started to take shape with bands like Orchid, coming mostly out of California at the time.
As experimentation with emotionally-charged lyrics continued across the country, bands started to fuse together more genres, gathering elements of hardcore, punk, emo, and even pop, giving rise to pop-punk bands like Green Day towards the end of the 1990s.
THE FIVE WAVES OF EMO
1ST WAVE (1980–1990):
Emo grows out of hardcore punk in the D.C. scene, with bands like Rites of Spring and Beefeater pivoting away from punk’s aggressive tendency and becoming more emotional in their lyrics and sounds.
2ND WAVE (1990–2000):
Midwest emo carves out a niche in the scene with mathy riffs and sad lyrics, with bands like American Football and Sunny Day Real Estate. Emo also mixes with grunge out west, giving rise to screamo bands like Orchid and poppunk bands like Green Day.
3RD WAVE (2000–2010):
Emo subcultures emerge with bands like Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At The Disco. Emo makes its way into the mainstream. Neon-emo takes hold as a subgenre with bands like All Time Low, Metro Station, and Boys Like Girls.
4TH WAVE (2010–2018):
The “emo revival” where we see second wave bands became a major influence, incorporating more mathy riffs. Bands like Modern Baseball, Joyce Manor, and The Hotelier were prominent during this era.
5TH WAVE (2010–PRESENT):
Emo gets more experimental and some bands abandon hardcore completely. Being coined as “post-emo,” Hot Mulligan, Origami Angel, and Anxious are at the forefront of this wave.
Article: Brittany Muldoon
By the end of the second wave, the term “emo” was being used as a catch-all for any heavy music with emotional lyrical content.
In the 2000s, considered the third wave of emo, the genre was ballooning in popularity, with bands of all different styles falling under the umbrella category. With massive acts like Jimmy Eat World and Saves The Day leading the charge at the beginning of the decade, emo grew from being simply a music genre into an entire subculture.
The community building around this subculture expanded around the mid-2000s with the inception of MySpace, which allowed people to express themselves online and share their favorite songs. The emo subculture spread like wildfire with the help of this new platform.
Bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Paramore, and My Chemical Romance rose to fame with their distinct punk and goth styles not only in their music, but also in their looks. Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams dominated the scene with her powerful vocals and signature bright orange hair, while My Chemical Romance stood out with their jet-black hair and clothing.
Thick black eyeliner, skinny jeans, harsh side parts, and band tees were all the rage, and stores like Hot Topic popped up in shopping malls to cater to this crowd, giving emo fans a new avenue for selfexpression. Brands like Converse and Vans also became heavily associated with the scene, bringing a commercialization to the genre that hadn’t been seen before.
This wave of emo was also the first to enjoy a more mainstream rotation, with bands like Paramore and My Chemical Romance especially garnering views on channels like MTV and VH1.
A notable subset of emo that popped up during this third wave was “neon emo,” which deviated from the heavier sound and darker looks and brought more electronic, pop-leaning influences to its music. The genre’s looks were characterized by hits of vibrant colors (often, fittingly, neon) and popped up in bands like All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, and Metro Station.
The fourth wave of emo, or the “emo revival,” started around 2010. Many of the bands in this era started looking back to the second wave for their influences. This wave gave rise to Modern Baseball, The Hotelier, and Joyce Manor, with the mathy riffs of American Football being cited as a major influence.
During this era, emo also began to seep into the rap and hip-hop genres, with acts like Lil Peep and nothing,nowhere. being some of the first to popularize emo hip-hop.
With more and more mainstream attention, the emo genre also started enjoying headlining slots at big music festivals like Riot Fest, Summerfest, and Download Festival. Emo was no longer an underground genre; it was finally stepping into the spotlight it deserved.
The current era of emo, known as the fifth wave, started in the late 2010s and is still highly influenced by second wave artists. This wave has become notably more experimental and many bands are ditching the genre’s hardcore roots altogether. Often called post-emo, bands like Hot Mulligan, Origami Angel, and Anxious are at the forefront with their unique genre-blending styles and raw, vulnerable lyrics.
Across each wave of the genre, the consistent thread tying it together is the lyrics: they’re emotional, they’re raw, and they’re real. Whether it’s Hot Mulligan’s Tades Sanville opening up about the death of his grandmother on “Monica Lewinskibidi” or My Chemical Romance letting people know “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” emo confronts all of life’s emotions and happenings head-on.
Often tackling themes of mental health and putting words to the hard times listeners may be going through, it’s a shared understanding of everything we’re feeling that makes the music so real and the community so strong.
While its sound and style will no doubt continue to evolve, one thing is certain: emo is here to stay. From its hardcore punk roots in D.C. basements to festival main stages, the genre has proven it doesn’t need strict rules or labels to resonate. Emo is raw, unfiltered, and painfully honest, proving the genre is more than just music. It’s something you have to feel.
Coheed and Cambria light up Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville.
Photo by Brit Mae
Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Photo by Adam Colwell
Where Identity Blooms:
Origami Angel has become one of the most defining duos in modern emo since the release of their groundbreaking debut album Somewhere City in 2019. After establishing a pop-punk and math rock foundation through the lens of escapism, vocalist and guitarist Ryland Heagy and drummer Pat Doherty expanded their sonic palette on their dynamic second LP GAMI GANG in 2021. Their ambitious spirit continued with their 2023 release, The Brightest Days, which cemented them as fearless boundary-pushers, leaning into playful, power-pop inspired moments.
Gami Gang
Photos: Damb Cabrera Article: Amber Bintliff
Last year, Origami Angel released their third studio album, Feeling Not Found, which explored ideologies of the digital age, modern humanity and discovering your analog identity. With the implications of advancements in technology and artificial intelligence taking over, the message behind Feeling Not Found grows more relevant every day. “If you write anything about technology, it’s gonna become more relevant just because that’s the way that the course seems to be going,” Heagy explains on a call with Melodic Magazine. “It’s been really interesting to see how the world has changed around the lens of that while being the person who wrote a lot of those lyrics.” Heagy began writing Feeling Not Found in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now watching elements of the record take on a life of their own nearly six years later, he says, “there’s things that I don’t even think I really meant fully that are actually super on the nose now.”
One main theme throughout the 14 tracks on Feeling Not Found is the importance of identity. The album’s penultimate track, “Higher Road,” embodies this message of taking your identity into your own hands and learning to define it on your own terms. “I think that there are so many things in the world right now that are trying to tell people what they are or trying to define someone,” he says. “It’s about taking back your own definition, whether that’s from someone who is putting a perception on you versus an audience that will never truly know you.”
“I think something that I have struggled with for such a long time since this band has had any sort of notoriety was really figuring out who I am as the person outside of this, or within it at the core of it,” he says. The significance of recognizing the crucial takeaways of each part of your identity is what Feeling Not Found is all about.
“The real story underneath the record is taking back that identity and grabbing it fully in your hands and the reconnection of the analog self. Not the perceived self, not the digital self, not anything like that,” Heagy continues. “This record has been such a cathartic experience, but it’s been the one that really redefined or helped restore the definition of the identity that I have as a writer, as a songwriter, as a performer.”
The D.C.-based duo have championed themselves as genre-bending artists that put an emphasis on their creative identity and expression. Feeling Not Found left them feeling like it was the first time they hadn’t felt pressure to sound a certain way. “I don’t really feel a weight anymore of thinking about policing one specific person, group or power in the music industry,” Heagy says. “It feels a lot more like Origami Angel, and I think that’s a really refreshing thing to feel as an artist.”
Their records feel like parts of one big puzzle, with each individual song taking the role of a single piece that completes the bigger picture. With their first two LPs, Somewhere City and GAMI GANG, the band put extra thought into where each song ended up. “‘666 Flags’ felt very goofy and like a left field turn when I only had the beginning worked out, which felt very GAMI GANG.” Heagy says that once he “wrote the back half of that track, it ended up being very triumphant and self-fulfilling and that’s when it started to feel more like a Somewhere City song.”
“We owe the listener a cohesive experience. We owe ourselves to make something that fits together,” he continues. “I never wanna just throw something together because we could. I don’t wanna be the type of band that just has a bunch of songs on a record. I want it to have a purpose because that gives weight to all the songs instead of just one or two.”
Heagy also recognizes that the group’s audience digests their releases through the bigger picture of their albums instead of track-by-track. “I think this band has one way or another turned into a very album[-centric] band, where the majority of people know a couple songs or the big songs, but there is this very visible group of people that discuss albums instead of tracks.”
This approach has become integral to Origami Angel, both artistically and personally. “I think that just can’t be separated from this band’s identity and it’s very fulfilling,” he shares. “I love to see people talking about that stuff because it’s how I’ve consumed art most of my life and it’s how I want people to consume our art.”
“If someone is going to buy that record or pay their monthly subscription, you gotta make it worth it,” Heagy explains. “That’s the way I look at it. My life has been changed because of those people. We can’t just half ass this shit.”
Earlier in September, the duo released their new single “Back To Life” as part of Counter Intuitive Records’ 10th anniversary compilation album, Cosmic Debris Vol. 2. The excitement surrounding this release not only comes from the band’s own contribution, but Heagy’s involvement with the production on fellow labelmates Combat’s track. “I grew up idolizing [Counter Intuitive] and a lot of the records that Jake [Sulzer] put out, especially the ethos of empowering independent artists and lifting up people who maybe if he wasn’t there, wouldn’t have that lift,” he says.
The track sees the contrast between Heagy’s younger and current self, recognizing the bridge between the two. “I feel like two people on this compilation,” he says. “I feel like the older version of myself, the current version that is, has been involved in this for so long. And I also feel like a younger version of myself who would’ve loved this if I was 17 or 18 at the time.”
“You are who you are and everyone there has love for you for that reason.”
“Back To Life” emerged from a demo that Heagy held onto that never felt like it had a place on any previous Origami Angel projects, which is something he finds himself very particular about. “I could be in love with the song, but if it doesn’t work for a project, let it be,” he says.
“I think that a song being out of place is almost worse than not releasing it at all,” Heagy admits. This standard that he holds the duo to leads back to that concept of identity. “Whether it’s about the band’s identity, a person’s identity, a song’s identity or record’s identity, I think all those things are something that you really, really have to consider.”
The last year of Origami Angel’s career has left Heagy feeling more emotionally and physically present than ever. “For such a long time I was just focused on the next thing and I wanna really be focused on this particular moment,” he says. “I have moments now at night where I’ll wake up in kind of a daze and be like, ‘I’m in a band that people listen to.’ It’s fucking crazy!”
The realization of Origami Angel’s impact is something Heagy finds himself immensely grateful for. “I’ve taken this last year and so many different places to really see where our feet were planted, where our musical instruments were plugged in and just say, ‘damn, this is fucking special,’” he says.
When it comes to that authenticity, it’s all about understanding the core elements of what makes them who they are while still incorporating new things. “[On tour] we do a very house-y, euro, remix of ‘Wretched Trajectory’ at the end of that song that has [had] one of the biggest responses.” This newfound crowd-favorite remix was born on Heagy’s laptop while on the road in the U.K. earlier this year and now serves as an integral part of their sets, showcasing the interconnectedness of their in-studio work and live presence.
Now as the band hit the road across the United States alongside Pain Of Truth supporting The Story So Far and Neck Deep, Origami Angel aims to give the crowd a safe space within the walls of the venue. Encouraging fans to carry that into the world beyond them is something Heagy stresses. “I’m a part of it. Pat’s a part of it. Our sound guy, Drew’s a part of it. Our photographer Kaylee’s a part of it. Our guitar tech, Marty’s a part of it. Our tour manager/merch person Dan is a part of it,” he says. “Whether we’re putting on the show, we’re watching the show, our friend brought us there, or we’re the biggest Origami Angel fan that ever existed.”
“It can be identity-fulfilling for a lot of people as well,” Heagy adds as he connects this sentiment back to the crucial concept. “In those walls, you don’t have to be anything else. No one is telling you to be anything else. You are who you are and everyone there has love for you for that reason.”
ten emo bands that shaped emo culture
Emo is always growing and changing, inventing new paths for itself while also harkening back to the good old days of Vans Warped Tour and long drives through the suburbs. The genre of emo music has also become synonymous with the emo subculture, which grew mostly out of the third wave of emo during the mid-2000s. So who were the bands that shaped emo culture as we know it today?
HOT MULLIGAN
Active: 2014 – present
Hot Mulligan is at the forefront of today’s version of emo, having coined the term “post-emo” to describe their unique sound. Their music is rooted in emo sensibilities but incorporates elements of pop-punk and classic Midwest emo. Their major success started with their album you’ll be fine, released in 2020, and they’ve been on an upward trajectory ever since.
Lead vocalist Tades Sanville’s unique vocal style brings something totally different to the table, meshing perfectly with rhythm guitarist and vocalist Chris Freeman’s cleaner singing style. Throw in some intricate guitar work, catchy pop-punk breakdowns, detailed and introspective lyrics, and slightly insane song names (“Christ Alive My Toe Dammit Hurts” being just one of many) and you’ve got a recipe for success in today’s emo scene.
The band’s most recent release, The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, has been met with huge success. Hot Mulligan is headed out on tour this fall to support Pierce the Veil in Europe before returning to the U.S. for their own headline tour.
MOM JEANS
Active: 2014 – present
Mom Jeans helped bring a renewed energy to the genre and introduce it to a younger generation. Combining influences of pop-punk and Midwest emo (despite being from California), Mom Jeans gained a massive following on social media thanks to their catchy, upbeat sound and introspective lyrics. They are another band that was clearly influenced by the guitar work of American Football.
The band independently released their first album, Best Buds, in 2016 and they’ve released three albums since then, with the most recent being Bear Market (2023). For the last several years, the band has enjoyed immense success on TikTok, often pushing out content that pairs their songs with funny or emotional themes.
Active: 2011 - 2017
MODERN BASEBALL
Hailing from Philadelphia, Modern Baseball were prominent in the fourth wave during the emo revival. They released a few EPs and three full-length albums before disbanding, but their contributions to the scene have been lasting.
Taking a more casual, somewhat humorous approach to their music made it approachable and vulnerable — the band didn’t take themselves too seriously, and by setting this example they invited listeners to adopt the same attitude. They also candidly covered themes like mental health struggles and what it’s like to be in your early twenties. These themes spoke directly to their young audience and helped influenced emo bands that would come after them.
The band unfortunately announced an indefinite hiatus in 2017 and hasn’t been heard from since, but fans are still holding out hope that they may see them again one day.
PARAMORE
Active: 2004 - Present
Paramore further pushed the emo genre into the spotlight with a lot of energy and spunk. When the band burst onto the scene, frontwoman Hayley Williams’ fiery orange hair and incredible vocal range caught everyone’s attention. Signed to Fueled by Ramen, the band released their debut All We Know Is Falling in 2005 and joined the Warped Tour lineup for the first time.
Their major breakthrough, however, came with the release of their second album, Riot!, in 2007. The angsty lyrics were insanely relatable, and Williams’ powerful vocal performance was delivered with such passion and energy. This album defined a generation of musicians as it pushed the genre further into the spotlight, and Williams became perhaps the first female emo star. She was thriving in a male-dominated genre with her unapologetic attitude and unique look, and young women everywhere started to look up to her.
FALL OUT BOY
Active:
Fall Out Boy is perhaps one of the most famous emo bands of all time. The band signed to Fueled by Ramen and released their debut album, Take This To Your Grave, in 2003. This landed them spots on Warped Tour and at South by Southwest (SXSW), and they appeared on the cover of the August 2004 issue of Alternative Press, shooting them further into the spotlight.
The band has gone through several lineup changes and had some turbulent times, but their ability to evolve their sound as the members evolve personally is a testament to their staying power. Their more recent releases lean into a softer production style, with After Laughter (2017) being heavily inspired by 80s synthpop and This Is Why (2023) having more of a post-punk sound.
Their second album From Under The Cork Tree (2005) is consistently hailed as one of the most influential emo albums of all time and included hit singles “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and “Dance, Dance.” The band set themselves apart with their sense of humor and their blend of pop-punk and emo, helping to bring the overall genre into the mainstream. Plus, Pete Wentz’s iconic “guyliner” and swooped black bangs defined the emo look of the generation.
They followed up this album with several other notable releases and have won numerous awards, but their legacy reaches far beyond just their own successes. In fact, Pete Wentz is the one who signed Panic! At The Disco to his record label, Decaydance (DCD2), in late 2004.
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
Active: 2001 - 2013, 2019 - Present
My Chemical Romance, another emo giant that took the world by storm, formed in September 2001. The band’s major success started in 2004 following the release of their iconic second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. This album featured their hits “Helena” and “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and its black, white, and red aesthetic made their visuals stand out. The band went on to tour with The Used and Killswitch Engage in 2005 before headlining Vans Warped Tour with Fall Out Boy that same year.
In 2006, The Black Parade, perhaps the best MCR album to date, was released, and enjoyed huge commercial success. The world tour that followed was renowned for its theatrics. The band’s goth look, still conveyed through shades of black and red, began to bleed into the emo subculture. They helped popularize jet black hair and goth clothing and brought more introspective themes to the forefront of their music.
THE USED
Active: 2000 - Present
The Used shot to fame after the release of their self-titled debut in 2002, which contained their platinum-certified singles “Buried Myself Alive,” “The Taste of Ink,” and “Blue and Yellow.” Following the release went on to play Vans Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Projekt Revolution. The band also toured with My Chemical Romance on the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005, a huge breakthrough moment in both of the bands’ careers.
The Used hit the sweet spot with emo, managing to combine emotional lyrics with some heavier sounds, while also pulling off more vulnerable ballads and catchier hooks. Bert McCracken’s somewhat pitchy lead vocals in particular made the music more approachable, sweetening up some of the more aggressive sounds that were trademarks of the genre.
My Chemical Romance broke up in 2013 to the dismay of their loyal fans, but they’ve since come back with a vengeance. They released a deluxe edition of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in June and are currently on their Long Live The Black Parade world tour.
TAKING BACK SUNDAY
Active: 1999 - Present
Taking Back Sunday burst onto the emo scene with their breakthrough album Tell All Your Friends in 2002. The band is known for mixing catchy pop-punk hooks with angsty lyrics and heavier elements of post-hardcore.
While rumors swirled about a potential breakup due to personal issues within the band in 2003, Taking Back Sunday toured with iconic emo band Saves the Day and then immediately began working on their second album. Where You Want To Be, released in 2004, reached number three on the Billboard 200 and was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the top 50 albums of 2004.
Despite a few lineup changes and subsequent changes in their overall style, Taking Back Sunday has proven their staying power in the emo scene with anniversary tours, deluxe albums, and new music. Their newest album, 153, was released in 2023.
THURSDAY
Active: 1997 - 2012, 2016 - Present
Thursday is known for leading the charge in post-hardcore. While their music is a bit darker and heavier, they still integrate introspective, emotional lyrics and both clean and harsh vocals into their sound.
Thursday’s debut album Waiting was released in 1999, but their rise to fame came after the release of their second album, Full Collapse, in 2001. Full Collapse led to a slot playing Vans Warped Tour and even garnered support from MTV. Their following album, 2003’s War All The Time, reached number seven on the Billboard 200.
Their huge commercial success and their contribution of screaming vocals into this subset of the genre proved their staying power and influenced many emo bands to come. Following two somewhat turbulent breakups, as well as some reunions, Thursday is back on the scene today.
Thursday’s contributions to the scene reach far beyond their own music, though. As lead vocalist Geoff Rickly produced My Chemical Romance’s first album, setting the stage for what would become one of the most well-known emo bands of all time.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Death Cab for Cutie (1997 - Present)
Hawthorne Heights (2001 - Present)
Dashboard Confessional (1999 - 2011, 2015 - Present)
Panic! At The Disco (2004 - 2023, 2025 - Present)
Tiny Moving Parts (2008 - Present)
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Active: 1997 - 2000, 2014 - Present
American Football is the quintessential Midwest emo band and they’re largely responsible for bringing math rock, characterized by unconventional rhythmic structures and complex guitar work, more heavily into the emo fold. This is no surprise as the band was originally formed by two guitarists (Mike Kinsella of Cap’n Jazz and Steve Holmes) and a drummer in 1997.
The band’s critically acclaimed debut self-titled LP was released in 1999 and is now considered to be one of the most influential emo and math rock albums to date. With soft, imperfect vocals, intricate, mathy guitar riffs, and painfully emotional lyrics, this album is still cited as a major influence for many emo bands today.
In fact, their debut album gained such a cult following that the house pictured in the cover art is now a site that fans visit for photo opportunities. In 2023, the house was set to be demolished, but the band managed to purchase the home and save it from being destroyed. It’s now available for stays and creative retreats on Airbnb.
Despite the band breaking up shortly after the release of their debut album, the record continued to gain traction in the Midwest emo scene. To the excitement of the band’s loyal followers, they reunited in 2014 for a deluxe reissue of their debut album and sold out tour dates in Illinois and New York. The band has since produced more albums, each of which have been self-titled and are differentiated by adding “(LP2)” and “(LP3)” at the end of their names.
Moving to Bed Bug Island:
The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still...the album
*Equip Sunglasses*
*Equip Sunglasses*
*Equip Sunglasses*
Photos: Jaden Russell Article: Amber Bintliff
In the modern alternative scene, hearing the term “Midwest emo” and not immediately thinking of Hot Mulligan is almost impossible. The Lansing, Michigan natives have become one of the most talked about bands in the genre since their arrival over a decade ago. Tades Sanville (lead vocals), Chris Freeman (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Ryan Malicsi (lead guitar), Jonah Kramer (bass), and Brandon Blakeley (drums) continue to make their mark on the scene with their twinkly guitar riffs, ridiculous song titles and bone-chillingly honest lyricism.
Now with the release of their fourth studio album The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, the group deliver their most hard-hitting project to date as they dive into themes like existential dread, paranoia and grief like never before. From dealing with the death of a loved one to grappling with alcoholism, Hot Mulligan has crafted an emotionally resonant record that unfolds with a vulnerability that is both deeply personal and universally cathartic.
The emotional depth found on the album showcases the band’s growth as artists and their ability to put unspoken concepts into the spotlight. With lyrics that are almost sure to make you shed at least one tear, the group found themselves in a more evolved spot as they sat down to write these new songs. “I think it’s more mature and more dynamic,” Freeman says. “The lyrics have a lot more depth to them this time around than the previous releases.” With an equal amount of sonic shifts and return to their roots, the self proclaimed “#1 Hot New Band” explore new parts of themselves as artists and build upon their past projects on their newest release.
The record also dives deeper into two opposite ends of the sound spectrum that Hot Mulligan had yet to truly explore, the softer, more tame side of the genre and the heavier, grittier side. “Musically, [the album] extends in every direction we’ve gone before with the heavier parts being heavier and the softer parts being softer,” Freeman says. “I think we’ll continue to push the envelope a little bit moving forward.” This approach is seen throughout the album from its softer moments like “Milam Minute” and “My Dad Told Me to Write a Nice One for Nana So This Is It,” to the heaviest, guttural screams on “Slumdog Scungillionaire.”
The album’s intense title, which was pulled from a lyric in “Cream of Wheat of Feet Naw Cream of (feat.),” became a no-brainer to the band as the group was brainstorming ideas. “The word ‘sound’ was appealing to us to try to create some sort of visual to go with that, which is the headphones on the mannequin that’s on the cover,” Freeman explains. Every detail matters with a Hot Mulligan album, and the correlation between the title and visuals on The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still offers a powerful illustration of this sentiment. “It came down to us trying to find a way to work multimedia into the imaging of everything,” he
adds. “On the last record, Why Would I Watch, we used a little viewmaster to send out to fans with the record. So for this record we really wanted to do something with sounds.”
What kind of a song name is “Cream of Wheat of Feet Naw Cream of (feat.)”? Not shockingly, that’s not the craziest song title on The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, let alone in Hot Mulligan’s catalog. “I mean, they’re all just inside jokes that we’ve been putting in a notes app that we think will be funny for song titles later on,” Freeman laughs. The rest of the record includes some ridiculously funny titles, too, including “Monica Lewinskibidi,” “It Smells Like Fudge Axe in Here,” and “Monster Burger and a $5 Beer.”
“It came down to us trying to find a way to work multimedia into the imaging of everything.”
Despite their humorous titles, these songs deal with some heavy content. From death and questions of the afterlife to paranoia, self-deprecation and deep-rooted fears, each track disarmingly tells the story of some deeply personal experiences and thoughts. In terms of the contrast between their wacky song titles and heavy lyrical content being intentional, Freeman admits that “it was never really specifically meant to be that… It was something we did when we first started being a band because we didn’t think anyone would listen to the songs or that it would matter at all. Then we just never stopped doing it.”
Continuing with their signature song-naming strategy wasn’t the only thing that kept this record feeling like an authentic Hot Mulligan effort. The group sought out to make a record that intertwined the highlights of their previous releases with new techniques to push their sound further. “I would say we just got in there and jammed like we normally do,” Freeman says. “Just live instruments playing as a band and seeing what happened. Naturally that sounds like Hot Mulligan and whatever expansion comes from that is rather organic.” This approach was what made the process of creating the LP feel like second nature, yet also entirely new. “It came down to us wanting to play with a new instrument or a new sound on a track or try something we haven’t done before, and
Island in the Sun
everyone being down to commit to doing that.” Freeman further explains the difference between working on this record in comparison to their third album, On The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still we were all willing to wake up earlier and actually perform and write the songs live. On Why Would I Watch, most of the songs were written on a guitar first and pieced together afterwards. But this one was written with everyone all at once, and I think that paid off for us.”
While busy touring schedules previously made it feel almost impossible to write and record, Hot Mulligan views their time spent on the road as a key part of the process. “I think after a couple years of touring and playing the same songs that you do with every album, you just get antsy to record more and do some more stuff,” Freeman explains. Proving the group’s creativity extends far beyond the four walls of a recording studio, and sometimes being on tour for extended periods help fuel their inspiration and creativity. “While touring does make it harder to write as much music as I would like to, it’s a good buffer.”
When it comes to touring, Hot Mulligan are set to embark on the largest North American headline tour of their career this October, following with two Ho Ho Hot Mulligan Christmas Shows in December and a spot on Coachella’s 2026 lineup. Despite obvious nerves for the headfirst dive into new territory, the band are excited to bring these songs to life. “Some of the venues are bigger than we’ve ever done before, and we’re doing back to back days in some cities, which is crazy,” Freeman says. “Overall, we’re all really excited that we get to do some bigger production stuff to enhance the live show this time around that we’ve never done. I’m really excited to take that next step forward.”
The band has previously made their mark touring all over the globe, including headlining throughout
New Album.. OUT NOW!!
And a Big Load BCKYRD
It Smells Like Fudge Axe in Here
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The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still
the U.S., Latin America, Australia and more over the last year. Despite these shows, there’s no place like home for Hot Mulligan. Their Michigan roots are still embedded into the core of their artistry, with its influence continuing to shine through on each release. “I feel like [being from Michigan] actually influences the sound and definitely the lyrics,” Freeman says. “A lot of the lyrics have to do with the way you’re raised out there and how you experience life afterwards as a result of that.” Hot Mulligan brave the cold Michigan winters and effects of familial hardships throughout the new LP with lines like “Brushing off the steps to watch the birds and take a seat / Bright outside, melts off the ice” and “The town falls apart, there’s nothing left familiar / Everything that meant anything broken down, or it died.”
Slumdog Scungillionaire
Slumdog Scungillionaire
Slumdog Scungillionaire
Slumdog Scungillionaire
Slumdog Scungillionaire
“We’re all really excited that we get to do some bigger production stuff to enhance the live show this time around that we’ve never done.
”
The direct influence of their home state is something that Hot Mulligan recognizes and is proud of. “It’s cool to connect with music that’s geographically locked to where you’re from, especially in the Midwest.” Now as they continue to cement their place as one of the genre’s most vibrant acts, this connection to where they come from plays a defining role in their success and mass appeal to their audience.
“Sonically, I would say there was really nothing better than when the trees would start to change colors and the first snow would come down. You’d put on one of those twinkly Midwest emo records from a band like Free Throw or Marietta and just look at the environment while those sounds played,” Freeman shares. “It’s a really awesome experience and was formative for a lot of us.”
The influence of Midwest emo is on full display throughout the entirety of The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still. Most of the tracks have at least one characteristic that resembles Hot Mulligan’s early days. The opening riff of “Monster Burger and a $5 Beer” feels eerily similar to that of “OG Bule Sky,” a track from the band’s 2020 record you’ll be fine.
When it comes to being defined as a strictly “emo” band, Hot Mulligan has never fit neatly into any boxes within the industry. “It’s a love and a curse,” Freeman jokes. And despite being one of the current leading names in Midwest emo, Freeman cites the likes of Free Throw, American Football and My Chemical Romance as some of their biggest inspirations in the emo genre as a whole. These influences make the record feel like a culmination of everything that defines the essence of who Hot Mulligan are. “It’s good to be associated with it, but it’s also not the end all, be all for us.”
Rather than let those blurred genre lines box them in, the five-piece has famously coined themselves as “post-emo.” “I think the post-emo thing came from how some people would call us emo and some emo purists would say, ‘It’s not emo, it’s pop-punk!’ But then the pop-punk kids didn’t think it was pop punk enough, so we just fell into this in-between by not being accepted into either one all the way.” Founding the term post-emo allowed the group to make themselves stand out in the scene and actively carve their own path.
The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still sees the band embrace the darkest and scariest parts of themselves without restraint. Even with the biggest year of their career under their belts, the band shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. They continue to become the boldest, loudest and most unapologetic version of themselves yet with each step forward.
ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Most artists don’t usually find superstardom and earn praise from some of rock music’s biggest names before releasing a full-length record. But, needless to say, The Paradox live up to their name. Almost immediately after their formation last year, the Atlanta-based pop-punk outfit went viral. Not long after that, they were asked to open for Green Day at Atlanta’s Truist Park. In the year since, the group has opened for Jack White, delivered a thrilling showcase at last year’s When We Were Young festival, and collaborated with Travis Barker. Now, The Paradox are celebrating the release of their debut album NSFW. The Paradox are keeping the distinct, optimistic flair of authentic pop-punk alive. Their major year aside, The Paradox are blazing their own trail as Black artists in a historically white scene one banger at a time.
THE PARADOX
Since their 2010 formation, pop-rock group Broadside have earned a reputation for their high-energy live shows and impactful musicality. After cementing themselves as a powerful pop-punk outfit with their debut LP Old Bones 2015, the group went on to release three more studio albums. In 2023, the group dropped their latest album, Hotel Bleu. Over the years, Broadside have continued to make a steady shift toward a more pop-punk sound since the days of Old Bones. After signing on to the renowned Thriller Records in April, the band have since released two new singles: “I Think They Know” and “Warning Signs.” After nearly 15 years together, Broadside show no signs of slowing down as they continue to captivate audiences with their addictive alt-rock tracks and genre-expanding sonic identity.
BROADSIDE
FFO: State Champs, Arrows In Action, Grayscale
LISTEN: “Coffee Talk,” “The Raging Sea,” “Foolish Believer”
FFO: Green Day, blink-182, Simple Plan
LISTEN: “Do Me Like That,” “Ms. Lauren,” “Imani”
Manchester-based pop-punk group Hot Milk have made serious headway in the alt-rock music scene through their anthemic, hard-hitting, and genre-bending musicality. Pulling inspiration from both pop and hard rock, Hot Milk incorporate a variety of influences to craft something uniquely wild and healing. Formed in 2018 by vocalists and guitarists Hannah “Han” Mee and Jim Shaw, Hot Milk have released three extended plays and two full-length records. Their most recent album, Corporation P.O.P was released in June, and further built upon the band’s magnetic and impactful sound. Known for their profound lyrics, Hot Milk often sing about personal themes ranging from mental health, relationships, and social and political activism. Following the release of Corporation P.O.P, Hot Milk opened for Green Day for select European dates, and this November they will play a handful of U.K. shows with support from Cassyette and Silly Goose.
HOT MILK
HONEY REVENGE
FFO: Senses, Daisy Grenade, The Haunt LISTEN: “Airhead,” “Rerun,” “Distracted”
Honey Revenge have risen well above their initial Los Angeles DIY roots and into pop-punk stardom. Composed of vocalist Devin Papadol and guitarist Donovan Lloyd, Honey Revenge released their debut single “Miss Me” in 2021 and signed to Thriller Records after dropping their sophomore single “Distracted” a year later. Establishing for themselves a rock identity heavily shaped by pop hooks and harmonies, Honey Revenge were soon recognized as a visceral – yet charmingly sweet – force to be reckoned with. In 2023, they released their highly anticipated debut LP Retrovision, a body of work decorated in colorfully vibrant vulnerability. This year, Honey Revenge have kept up the excitement, releasing their new single “Risk” back in May and holding a spot at several dates of the return of the Vans Warped Tour. This fall, Honey Revenge will join Periphery in supporting modern metal icons Spiritbox on their North American Tour.
FFO: Charlotte Sands, Taylor Acorn, LØLØ LISTEN: “Candy Coated Lie$,” “BREATHING UNDERWATER,” “Glass Spiders”
WINONA FIGHTER
FFO: Scowl, Social Distortion, The Offspring LISTEN: “HAMMS IN A GLASS,” “You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers”
Winona Fighter have made serious headway in the pop-punk scene. Their starpower only grew with the 2023 release of their critically-acclaimed debut album MY APOLOGIES TO THE CHEF. With a distinct raging power in their pop-rock musicality, their work is cathartic through its relatable explorations of anger, anxiety, and vulnerability. Since releasing their debut LP, the band has continued to grow both on a national scale and within their native Nashville scene. On September 5, Winona Fighter expanded upon their debut LP with a deluxe edition. This fall, the pop-punk outfit will bring their ripping live shows across the U.S. on select tour dates, which includes a performance at the Orlando date of Vans Warped Tour this November. In the world of Winona Fighter, aggression is embraced, respected, and transformed into something healing and memorable.
comfort in the chaos
Photos: Brady Olson Article: Justice Petersen
Midwest emo group saturdays at your place has a name that invokes a calming sense of familiarity. Picture a given Saturday spent somewhere outside of your own home — there’s no stress derived from veering off a set schedule, whether it’s spent at your best friend’s house, blasting music in the garage or crashing skateboards into wooden fences. No plans are set in stone and the only sense of permanence is the continuous feel of community, belonging and relaxation.
The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based emo rock trio of this name have captured this ethos of approachable vulnerability and enjoyable weekends with vivid incisiveness. Composed of vocalist and drummer Gabe Woods, vocalist and bassist Esden Stafne and guitarist Mitch Gulish, the group took shape at Western Michigan University, where the three first met.
In 2021, saturdays at your place released their debut record, something worth celebrating, which firmly established the group’s definitively secondwave emo sound, categorized by their twinkly, guitar-driven instrumentations and undeniable Midwestern charm. Their subsequent 2023 record always cloudy continued to build upon their signature relatability and lyrically intricate artistry through tracks like “tarot cards” and “it’s always cloudy in kalamazoo.”
Now, the emo rock outfit is celebrating the release of their sophomore LP, these things happen, released September 12. Bringing their vulnerability to new emotive heights, these things happen is profound in its lyrical softness, gently approaching listeners to simply relax and stick around for a while. Across 10 tracks, saturdays at your place navigates young adulthood, relationships, mental health and more.
Following the album’s release, the band is embarking on their extensive these things happen tour. From mid-October through late November, they will make their way across North America, with dates that include a massive show in their home state of Michigan and an Austin Powers-themed costume party show in California on Halloween (Austin Powers attire required, naturally).
“When you go on the road for a while, you have to come home and then fix everything that you left behind.”
In the time between their always cloudy EP and their latest release, the group has amassed a devoted following. On a Zoom call ahead of the LP’s release, Stafne says their newfound fanbase undoubtedly played a role in the songwriting process for the new record. “We knew that we actually had some people that might listen to it after growing an audience from [always cloudy], and I think that put a lot of pressure on us writing it,” Stafne says. “We’ve been working on it for a long time, we had all these big ideas and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves that this has to be perfect. This is the second album, we have people listening, we want to make this great, and eventually it kind of all just came together really quickly.”
Sharing vocal duties with Woods, all three members of the band collaborate on writing songs. Since first becoming friends in college, the trio has grown closer together after years of songwriting and traveling on the road. “If you’re a touring
musician, you just have to be ready for a lot of your relationships to be damaged,” Stafne says. “When you go on the road for a while, you have to come home and then fix everything that you left behind.” The touring life is no easy path, but the making of these things happen reignited the band’s passion for making music after a bout of heavy touring.
The second single to arrive ahead of these things happen, titled “what am i supposed to do?,” was written about tensions in the band that resulted from a busy touring schedule. However, once saturdays at your place got back home and in the studio, they were reminded of why they love being a band in the first place. “Touring is so awesome, but getting to be in a studio and write and create together after taking so much time off made us realize how much we appreciate doing that with each other. It’s just so much fun getting to create and be proud of what you create,” Stafne says.
“what am i supposed to do?,” along with “waste away,” arrived ahead of the full record. The band’s passion and love for performing together is crystal clear in the singles’ humorous music videos, both of which are directed by Hot Mulligan frontman Nathan “Tades” Sanville. In the accompanying videos, the band can be seen working in a grocery store and an ice cream truck, respectively, while the band members find themselves in various chaotic –yet relatable – circumstances. “Me and our manager, Tyson, have been making videos together since we were kids,” Stafne says. “This last one, we knew we wanted to go with our buddy Michael Herrick…
But we didn’t really have a music video written. And that’s something Tades is very good at – writing. So I think Michael actually floated the idea of having Tades write the music video — the ice cream truck one. Tades and Michael co-directed that one, and it was just a lot of fun.”
Despite the risks that came with driving an old rusty ice cream truck around downtown Indianapolis, the band loved the “waste away” music video so much that they asked Sanville if he could direct the following “what am i supposed to do?” video. “That one was a ton of fun,” Stafne says of the music video. “Tyson was behind the camera on that one because we had a smaller budget, but I’m very proud of how it turned out. I think Tades did such a great job directing and Tyson did a great job filming and editing.”
While releasing two music videos that both portray the band as working regular service jobs wasn’t the initial goal, Stafne says the retail theme is a perfect fit for the band. “When we started, we all had service jobs that we were doing outside of touring,” Stafne says. “People in bands are coworkers. It’s very similar to relationships with coworkers, but obviously, you’re great friends too.”
Whether they’re performing in the produce aisle or writing about navigating through life’s many challenges, saturdays at your place present themselves as a band that’s as honest as they are approachable. While exploring the record’s themes, the group doesn’t necessarily tell listeners of what
they are supposed to do in life. Rather, the music serves as a soundtrack to listen to while you figure out the answers on your own.
These things happen pulls heavy inspiration from the film Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson. Similar to the film, saturdays at your place’s latest album explores the simplicity of what may be considered as life’s most profound moments. “That movie is just about a bunch of characters who all have separate plot lines, but they kind of crash into each other,” Stafne says. “And not for any reason at all. There’s no greater meaning. They say it in the movie, it’s just because these things happen. And that’s kind of the story behind the theme of the album, because that’s how it came together.”
Over the course of the album unfolding, the individual stories of each band member are told, and the complexity of the record doesn’t go much further. The “story” of the album is that personal stories are being told, and that listeners may find comfort in the natural simplicity of it all. “It’s a very human album,” Stafne says. “Deeply human.”
Through delivering such vulnerable work, another prominent theme in the band’s music — as a Midwest emo band — is the band’s upbringing in Kalamazoo. Pulling heavy inspiration from their Midwestern roots, the group’s artistry is heavily intertwined with their cultural identity. “I think that this album has a lot of Midwest influence just from the fact that we were writing it in the Midwest and just living our lives here,” Stafne says. “I think
anybody who’s lived here can understand the feeling of it getting dark at five p.m. in the winter. For us, writing about that stuff comes easy just because it’s who we are.”
Having emerged during the second wave of emo, Midwest emo is one of the many subgenres that has popped up over the last several decades. Through its passionate lyrics and highly devoted community of fans, emo music remains timeless. Saturdays at your place are one of several acts leading the current emo renaissance. “I also think that [emo] culture is a direct reflection of the world around us,” Stafne says. “Living in late-stage capitalism, things are pretty bleak, and I think that this culture is an acknowledgment of that, but also an escape.”
Saturdays at your place embodies this punk DIY ethos, balancing underground culture with a distinct Midwest melancholy that both comforts and ignites listeners within. Simultaneously sentimental and insightful, the Kalamazoo trio — like many emo bands before them — carries a hopeful message for when times get tough. “I don’t have the answers for anybody, but…everything is going to be okay,” Stafne says. “No matter how hard life is or what you’re going through, everything’s going to be all right eventually, you know?”
Soccer Mommy performing at Madison Theater on the Evergreen Road Trip tour.
Photo by Serina Epperson
UPCOMING TOURS
Forget FOMO
These upcoming tours are the ones you need to clear your calendar for.
A Day to Remember + Yellowcard
The Maximum Fun Tour is making its way across 36 cities, marking the first U.S. tour for A Day To Remember since Big Ole Album Vol. 1 was released. State Champs and The Boundaries will support the first half of tour, while The Wonder Years and Dinosaur Pile-Up will support the second half. Yellowcard’s highlyanticipated Better Days arrives in on October 10.
SEPT 05 - NOV 22
Twenty One Pilots Dayglow
In May, Twenty One Pilots brought the Clancy World Tour to an end after eight months. Now, with their new album Breach, released this month, the duo are ready to head back out on the Clancy Tour: Breach around North America with Dayglow, bringing their decade-long story to an end. With roughly half the dates sold out, additional dates have been added.
SEPT 18 - OCT 26
SEPTEMBER
SEPT 16 - OCT 11
Sleep Token Thornhill
Sleep Token are currently our on the road for the Even in Arcadia Tour across North America with support from Thornhill. All dates are fully sold out, but those who got tickets ahead of time will hear them play songs from their fourth studio album, Even in Arcadia, released in May. The tour kicked off in Duluth, GA, and wrap in Los Angeles, CA.
SEPT 19 - OCT 02
Hot Milk
Following performances in Seoul, Tokyo, and Osaka in August, U.K. alt-rock band Hot Milk have made their way to the U.S. in September supporting their sophomore album, Corporation P.O.P. After wrapping at Aftershock Festival on October 2, they will head back to the U.K. in November before trekking across Europe in February.
Bring Me The Horizon Motionless In White
Pt. I of Bring Me The Horizon’s USA ascension program+ kicked off at the Louder Than Life festival on September 21. Making its way through cities like Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix before wrapping in Sacramento on October 5, special guests will include Motionless In White, The Plot in You, and Amira Elfeky. Pt. II has yet to be announced.
Layto Kode, Leysa
After the release of his album feed me amnesia in June, its deluxe counterpart in August, and a quick tour with Jutes in July, Layto is heading out on the Feed Me Amnesia Tour starting October 10. The tour will travel around North America with Leysa as the supporting act until October 18 while Kode then takes over as the support thereafter.
Hot Mulligan
Drug Church, Arm’s Length, Anxious
To celebrate the release of their fourth studio album, The Sound a Body Makes When it’s Still, Hot Mulligan are heading out on a U.S. headlining tour. While tickets for the first portion are sold out, tickets remain for their mid-November and December dates. Support comes from Drug Church, Arm’s Length, and Anxious. SEPT 21 - OCT 05 OCT 10 - NOV 13 OCT 29 - DEC 05
OCTOBER
OCT
Archers
Of Virtue, Dead Eyes, Rivals
After releasing their Temporary High EP in June, Archers went on part one of the Temporary High Tour in July. The band is now set to hit the road on the second half of the tour through all of October with support including Of Virtue, Dead Eyes, and Rivals. After tour, the band has a small break before opening up for Nothing More in early 2026.
grandson Ho99o9
Just starting a new era with his latest album INERTIA, grandson has described this era as “the best version” of himself. To support the album, he will head out on the INERTIA tour around North America with Ho99o9 on select dates. In January, he starts the E.U. and U.K. portion of the tour, with support from Pinkshift and VOWER.
NOVEMBER
The Home Team
Arrows in Action, Makari
In June, The Home Team dropped a deluxe version of their 2024 album, The Crucible of Life. Now, following a tour with Mayday Parade, they’re ready to close out the year with a headline tour through North America with Arrows in Action and Makari. While the entire tour sold out within a week, tickets remain for the upgraded MA, WI, and WA dates.
OFF THE SHELF
Grab your record player
These fresh releases deserve a top spot in your rotation.
INERTIA grandson
Review by:
Emily McCormack
In a time where one can either turn to violence in response to the frustrations of the world or bury themselves under a rock for safety, Jordan Benjamin, better known as grandson, opens up another outlet to deal with the anger: music. Not only known for blending the rock and hip-hop genres, grandson simultaneously serves as an activist and social critic, using his platform to shed light on education and political injustice. In short, he’s not one to bend a knee to “the man,” and INERTIA is no exception.
Breach
Twenty One Pilots
Review
by: Amber Bintliff
Twenty One Pilots have returned with their most ambitious body of work yet, wrapping up a decade’s worth of cryptic lore on their 8th studio album, Breach. They deliver a beautifully complex and emotional conclusion to their
elaborate narrative with this new record. The album is arguably the duo’s strongest and most authentic work to date, with their artistic growth, dedication and passion saturating every detail. It’s a moving representation of how the fight to survive mental health struggles never ends, but the sun will rise and you can try again. Breach is the perfect, bittersweet closure that’ll have fans theorizing, analyzing and connecting with each corner of the lore that’s carried both them and the band for the last ten years one last time.
The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still Hot Mulligan
Review by: Amber Bintliff
After their groundbreaking third LP Why Would I Watch released nearly two years ago, Hot Mulligan has easily become one of the biggest names in the pop-punk and emo scene. Now with their latest effort, The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still, the post-emo inventors are back with a clearer-than-ever picture of just how massive these five guys from Lansing, Michigan, are destined to be.
While the band has reached a new peak with their ridiculous and silly song titles, The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still is an album that commands your full attention as it tackles polarizing struggles with grief (“Milam Minute”),
paranoia (“It Smells Like Fudge Axe in Here”), and the concept of life beyond the grave (“Monica Lewinskibidi”).
The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still is arguably the loudest, most sincere, and well-rounded that the group has ever been and proves that if you’re not already hooked on them, you will be soon.
these things happen saturdays at your place
Review by: Amber
Bintliff
saturdays at your place offer a vulnerable glimpse into the chaos of growing up and experiencing change with their second fulllength record, these things happen The Kalamazoo-based trio, brings the reality of navigating adulthood and the complexities of human emotion to the forefront with twinkly guitars, resonant songwriting and an eerie Midwestern ache. these things happen is a culmination of the human experience and everything that comes with it: the brutal emotions, uncertainty, relationships and more. saturdays at your place come into their own and deliver a record full of the Midwestern ache that makes the genre so resonant and valuable. The album is a cathartic release that details the importance of connection, hope and showing up despite feeling lost as you navigate through life.
Prema Fujii Kaze
Review by: Christine Sloman
Fujii Kaze is delivering unique and highly memorable songs on his third album, Prema. With a timeless yet modern, mature but youthful, and classic yet fresh sound, Prema jumps from funk to jazz to R&B and from the 80s to the 90s. This is also Fujii’s first English-speaking album, making it one of his boldest projects to date. Themes of optimism (“Casket Girl”), love (“Love Like This”), and togetherness (“Hachikō”) shine through on Prema and is bound to make someone’s day a little brighter through its messages, its timeless style, Fujii’s exceptional vocals, and of course, its music.
Start Again Nevertel
Review
by:
Victoria Goodwin
Since forming in 2014, Tampa trio Nevertel have been carving their place in modern rock by fusing the weight of nu-metal and
hard rock with alternative rock, hip-hop, and subtle textures of electronic music. With their first release under Epitaph Records, Start Again is about “learning to start over, learning to roll with the punches, and make something new out of the ashes, like a phoenix rising.” Start Again feels like a record that embodies persistence, collaboration, and reinvention, and it’s clear that Nevertel’s foundation and new found partnership built them an album that is raw, polished, and ready to be shared with the world. The album is a sound of a band refusing to give up and proving that starting again can mean starting bigger, better, and stronger.
gonna love me, right? DAYOUNG
Review by: Maria Mata
K-pop veteran DAYOUNG has just released her debut solo mini album, gonna love me, right?, giving fans a glimpse of her true self in its boldest form. gonna love me, right? is full of confidence and emotion, yet it still keeps DAYOUNG’s bubbly charm: each track explores love and self-discovery from a different perspective, with bright pop melodies that evoke summer’s fun vibes. From her debut with K-pop girl group WJSN to her first solo project, DAYOUNG is taking a departure from the idol structure into a more mature, sincere version of herself.
Sunflowers and Leather
Jonah Kagen
Review by: Clare Gehlich
Aftertime spent in Miami, Jonah Kagen traveled across the country and returned with his debut album, Sunflowers and Leather. The album took shape as he traveled from South Carolina to Montana, soaking in stories, landscapes and heartbreaks along the way, with sunflowers standing for beauty and hope, and leather representing pain and resilience. Sunflowers and Leather, captures his restless journey through heartbreak (“Candy Land”), peace (“I’m Around”) and self-discovery (“Belong), blending beauty and pain into a 16-track album fueled by grit, glory and meaning.
Pantheon
Dance Gavin Dance
Review by:
Britt Mae
Dance Gavin Dance released their 11th full-length record via Rise Records, Pantheon. Known for fearlessly pushing boundaries
and reinventing themselves with each release, the band stays true to form. Emerging from a recent period of trauma with the sudden passing of beloved longtime bassist Tim Feerick and the highprofile departure of frontman Tilian Pearson, there was some uncertainty about what path the band would take next. But from the opening track to the final notes, Pantheon makes one thing clear: Dance Gavin Dance are still masters of controlled chaos, and this album is an all-around triumph. With Pantheon, Dance Gavin Dance have delivered one of their most daring and dynamic records yet. If this is the sound of a band in transition, then the future of post-hardcore might just lie in the in-between.
Pink Moon Silverstein
Review by: Alexa Rosenberger
Deciding to release two albums in 2025 is a bold feat to take on, but in their monumental 25th year, Silverstein has accomplished that with additional flair. The newest release, Pink Moon, out September 12, is an eight-tracklong emotional purge that ends in what feels almost like a reckoning.
Opening with the achingly beautiful “I Love You But I Have To Let You Go,” played on out-oftune piano keys, sets the tone for
the tracks that follow. The band explores the emotional weight and inner turmoil of being an artist on “Drain The Blood” and features the delicate vocals of Rory Rodriguez of Dayseeker’s giving both the song and listeners a place to come up for air. Throughout the remainder of the album, Silverstein showcases their understanding of album composition. From darker (“Widowmaker”) to lighter (“Autopilot,) and the jam-worthy “Death Hold” songs, all tracks are beautifully balanced with the next perfectly ending the story with the anguished “Dying Game,” a perfect counterpart to “I Love You But I Have To Let You Go.”
What No One’s Thinking AJR
Review by: Emily McCormack
New York’s finest trio AJR finds a way to somehow sound completely different from their usual style, yet produce a project that sounds so authentically them at the same time on their latest EP, What No One’s Thinking. In this folksy fivesong collection, the Met brothers continue to write about the intense or mundane aspects of life, such as everyday anxieties (“”The Plane That Never Lands””) and existential dread, atop upbeat (“”Betty””), whimsical tracks. What No One’s Thinking explores the things that, quite honestly, people subconsciously think about but rarely want to admit aloud.
Jonah Kaegan opening for Vance Joy in Asheville
Photo by Carl Markland
Lauren Spencer Smith’s at SaSaZu Club in Prague. Photo by Brittany Muldoon
