How to describe Hot Mulligan: a group of shitposting gamers from far reaches of Michigan (and one from Iowa) who became best friends at college and started making music that works through the endless weirdness of growing up in this moment. The result of these things is earnest, affecting emo punk, presented with a song title created by typing into autocorrect with eyes closed.

Hot Mulligan are just as likely to write a beautiful, devastating treatise on growing apart—both literally and spiritually, from your friends and your old self—as they are to make a song and video about putting on sunglasses (which they have done). This is the Hot Mulligan way: life is serious and scary, but you just gotta make a meme about it with your buds.

Arm’s Length is a four-piece from Ontario, Canada, blending emo, indie and post-punk energy into something raw, honest and fully their own. On their new album There’s A Whole World Out There, the band sounds bigger, bolder, and more self-aware than ever. Frontman Allen Steinberg wrote most of the songs alone in his room. Emotional reflections on love, loss and lingering trauma, but this time viewed through the lens of hindsight.

Don’t expect a quiet introspection, though. These tracks hit hard: bursting with feeling, sharp lyrics, big melodies, and a streak of dark humour. It’s catharsis you can sing along to, from explosive riffs to fragile moments of calm. Fans of Movements, The Hotelier, or Title Fight will feel right at home in Arm’s Length’s world.