Hot Milk, Bad Influence
Music For Nations

Hot Milk can’t pause, can they? It barely feels like any time has passed since their 2021 EP I Just Wanna Know What Happens When I’m Dead came out, and already they’re back with a riot of a tune in Bad Influence and new of an upcoming EP: The King and Queen of Gasoline. They’ve filled the gap with tours and shows galore, from their own headliners to supporting likes of legends McFly and Pale Waves (not to mention the USA tour that’s around the bend?). But now it’s time for the new Hot Milk era already, and by the looks of Bad Influence, it’s going to be a noisy one.

Somehow feeling absolutely classic and cutting-edge at the same time, Bad Influence navigates slick hooks and jagged chord progressions all at once, to reach a sound that’s distinctly Hot Milk. Their calling cards are here – mega choruses befitting of the crowds they’ve garnered and grown since the live scene kicked back off, darkly emotive verses, and of course, stomping guitars and fuzzed-up textures that inject the track with its bite.

Hot Milk’s characteristically confessional, confrontational lyricism does its bit to provide that bite too – opening up with a howling “I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna cry” is a hell of a statement. The call and response between Jim and Han is as dynamic as ever, throwing the track between levels at breakneck speed as the instrumentals hammer along, building to their breaks. It’s a powerful intro to the new Hot Milk era – after leading into their last EP with the frenetic title track I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I’M DEAD, Bad Influence feels just as energetic but on a slightly different scale. Bring on whatever it’s heralding.

The King and Queen of Gasoline is out August 5th.