Hop Along Announce New Album, Release Introspective New Single “How Simple”
Photo by Tonje Thilesen Music News Hop Along
Philadelphia’s Hop Along have announced their new album Bark Your Head Off, Dog, out on April 6 via Saddle Creek.
Their forthcoming, nine-track album follows 2015’s Painted Shut, one of Paste’s top albums of that year. Self-produced and recorded at The Headroom in Philadelphia by the band’s guitarist Joe Reinhart and Kyle Pulley, Bark Your Head Off, Dog features a wide variety of genres like grunge, folk, punk and power pop, with inspiration from everyone from Electric Light Orchestra and Elvis Costello to ‘70s girl group vocal arrangements.
The album features Hop Along’s new single, “How Simple”, an introspective indie-folk track, which comes to the disappointing realization that self-discovery isn’t always a clean, simple and satisfying process. The band’s songwriter and lead vocalist Frances Quinlan explains, “People romanticize the idea of finding themselves, but when they do, at least in my experience, it can be really difficult. You see how you fail others and how others fail you.”
“So strange to be shaped by such strange men” is a line that repeats on more than one song on this album. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. That I just deferred to men throughout my life,” says Quinlan. “But by thinking you’re powerless, you’re really robbing yourself. I’m at a point in my life where I’m saying instead, ‘Well, what can I do?’
Listen to “How Simple” below, preorder Bark Your Head Off, Dog here and check out Hop Along’s upcoming U.S. tour dates further down.
Hop Along Tour Dates:
May 01 – Ithaca, N.Y. @ The Haunt
02 – Holyoke, Mass. @ Gateway City Arts
03 – Boston, Mass. @ Royale
05 – Baltimore, Md. @ Ottobar
06 – Richmond, Va. @ The Broadberry
07 – Durham, N.C. @ Motorco Music Hall
08 – Asheville, N.C. @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
10 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Terminal West
11 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Saturn
12 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Exit / In
14 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ The Hi-Fi
15 – Columbus, Ohio @ Ace of Cups
19 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
30 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Brooklyn Steel
June
01 – Portland, Maine @ Port City Music Hall
02 – Montreal, Quebec @ Le Belmont
03 – South Burlington, Vt. @ Higher Ground
05 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
06 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Spirit
08 – Toronto, Ontario @The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
09 – Ferndale, Mich. @ The Loving Touch
10 – Chicago, Ill. @ Metro
12 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Turner Hall
13 – St. Paul, Minn. @ Turf Club
16 – Kansas City, Mo. @ The Riot Room
18 – Dallas, Texas @ Club Dada
19 – Austin, Texas @ Barracuda
22 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Delmar Hall
23 – Louisville, Ky. @ Zanzabar