Philadelphia indie five-piece Hop Along have released a video for their recent single “How Simple,” taken from their latest album Bark Your Head Off, Dog, which came out earlier this month.
Along with “How Simple,” the band also released two other singles, “Not Abel” and “Prior Things.” While “Prior Things” evoked chaos with slightly off-kilter violins and “Not Abel” brought a warm, textured sound via traditional indie-folk, “How Simple” offers both a whimsical edge, with its keyboards and guitars, and a familiar sound, with its introspective theme and Frances Quinlan’s rich lead vocals.
The new video for “How Simple” is the band’s first official music video from this album and it also marks the first time the band has starred in one of their videos. Starring Quinlan and directed by Derrick Belcham, the video follows the singer as she wanders around and eventually eats some cereal while the band performs in a dark room. Later, Quinlan joyfully dances like no one’s watching amid a flurry of flashing lights.
Quinlan says of her first music video appearance with the band:
This is my first time appearing in a music video; in which case I decided to do something that felt risky to me. I told myself that I’ve danced through my own house solo enough times to do an alright job of it in front of a camera. All that being said, I’m still surprised that this piece came to be. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to do it. Derrick did an excellent job directing, he made it a lot easier for me to access that part of myself and made it all look dreamy in a way that I couldn’t have achieved otherwise.
Hop Along’s new 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 dabbles in 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.
Hop Along will embark on a U.S. tour in May and June in conjunction with their new album, with support from Saintseneca, Bat Fangs and Ratboys. The tour will start in Ithaca, N.Y. in the beginning of May and will end in Louisville, Ky. at the end of June.
Watch the new video for “How Simple” below and check out Hop Along’s upcoming 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 #
20 – Houston, Texas @ White Oak Music Hall #
22 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Delmar Hall
23 – Louisville, Ky. @ Zanzabar @
(* – Saintseneca supporting)
(# – Bat Fangs supporting)
(@ – Ratboys supporting)