| The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 22, 2025 | |||
| Studio | The Barbershop [1] | |||
| Genre | Emo [2] | |||
| Length | 42:46 | |||
| Label | Wax Bodega | |||
| Producer | Brett Romnes | |||
| Hot Mulligan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still | ||||
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The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still is the fourth studio album by American emo band Hot Mulligan. It was released on August 22, 2025, via Wax Bodega in vinyl, CD and digital formats. [3]
Consisting of sixteen tracks, the album was preceded by the band's 2023 release, Why Would I Watch . [3] Tades Sanville of the band commented that the title originated from lyrics of a song relating to paranoia. [4] "And a Big Load" was released as the album's first single on June 3, 2025, alongside a music video directed by Michael Herrick. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Distorted Sound | 9/10 [5] |
| Kerrang | 4/5 [6] |
| New Noise |   [7] |
| The Skinny | [2] |
The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still received generally positive reviews from multiple publications, several of which described it as one of the band's best albums.
Amber Bintliff, writing for Melodic, referred to the album as the band's "hardest hitting record to date" and "arguably the loudest, most sincere, and well-rounded that the group has ever been." [8] New Noise 's Kayla Moreno rated it four stars and described it as "biting, timely, and topical," in addition to stating it "could easily be classified as Hot Mulligan's best work." [7] Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan noted that The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still is "just one cathartic release after the next", calling it the band's "biggest and best album yet." [9]
The album received a verdict of four out of five from Kerrang! , whose reviewer James MacKinnon described it as "proof that they're maturing into their elder emo status." [6] Dylan Tuck, for the Skinny, opined that the album is "another collection of consistently hook-heavy, happy-clappy choruses, and belt-along lines that continues their trend of honing the fine emo craft," giving it a rating of four stars. [2]
Assigning the album a rating of nine out of ten, Ed Walton of Distorted Sound stated that it "feels like Hot Mulligan leaning fully into who they are: raw, sincere, and unwilling to compromise," noting "it's not their flashiest record, but it's one that rewards patience and deep listening." [5]
All tracks are written by Hot Mulligan.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Moving to Bed Bug Island" | 3:20 |
| 2. | "And a Big Load" | 2:53 |
| 3. | "It Smells Like Fudge Axe in Here" | 3:26 |
| 4. | "Island in the Sun" (featuring Cory Castro) | 2:29 |
| 5. | "Bon Jonah" | 3:34 |
| 6. | "This Makes Me Yummy" | 1:11 |
| 7. | "Monica Lewinskibidi" | 3:25 |
| 8. | "Milam Minute" | 1:45 |
| 9. | "Cream of Wheat of Feet Naw Cream Of (Feat.)" | 2:03 |
| 10. | "Mix Master Wade on the Beat" | 2:44 |
| 11. | "Carbon Monoxide Hotel" | 3:34 |
| 12. | "This Makes Me Yucky" | 1:52 |
| 13. | "Let Me See Your Mounts" | 1:40 |
| 14. | "Monster Burger and a $5 Beer" | 3:11 |
| 15. | "Slumdog Scungillionaire" | 4:05 |
| 16. | "My Dad Told Me to Write a Nice One for Nana So Here It Is" | 1:34 |
| Total length: | 42:46 | |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [1]
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [10] | 62 |
| UK Albums Sales (OCC) [11] | 66 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [12] | 24 |
| US Billboard 200 [13] | 175 |
| US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [14] | 27 |
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