Hop Along have announced the release of their third studio album Bark Your Head Off, Dog (out April 6 on Saddle Creek) along with their first single ‘How Simple’. Crafted by Frances Quinlan (songwriter, lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist), Tyler Long (bass), Joe Reinhart (guitar), and Mark Quinlan (drums), the album considers what it’s like to cast off longheld and misguided perceptions, yet without the assurance of knowing what new ones will replace them. Quinlan has been meditating a lot on power. In this particular moment in history, this thought begs a greater question: what do we do with power and the men who so freely brandish it? “So strange to be shaped by such strange men” is a line that repeats on more than one song on the album. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. That I just deferred to men throughout my life,” Quinlan says. “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?’

On album opener, “How Simple,” Quinlan wrangles with what it’s like to learn about yourself—which can get ugly. 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.” Offering fans a classic dose of Hop Along’s searing songwriting and unabashed honesty, lead album track “How Simple” is released today and available to post/share HERE.

Self-produced and recorded at The Headroom in Philadelphia by Reinhart and Kyle Pulley, Bark Your Head Off, Dog features the familiar sounds that have always made the band allergic to genre: grunge, folk, punk, and power pop all appear, with inspiration from ELO to Elvis Costello to ‘70s girl group vocal arrangements. This time around, they’ve added strings, more intricate rhythms, lush harmonies (featuring Thin Lips’ Chrissy Tashjian), along with a momentary visit with a vocoder. In more than one place, Mark Quinlan drums like he’s at a disco with Built to Spill. Bark Your Head Off, Dog is, without question, Hop Along’s most dynamic and textured record yet.

Throughout the album, one gets the sense that Quinlan is wandering in the thicket of a forest—a state of being that will feel familiar to longtime listeners—and on this outing, she hasn’t left a trail of breadcrumbs behind her. The album’s artwork, which Quinlan painted herself, invites the listener into that forest, as well. The record calls upon references that Quinlan has woven throughout all of the band’s albums: the wild presence of animals (rabbits, foxes, dogs, and blue jays all appear on this record) and historical touchstones (from a podcast on World War I to books by Karl Ove Knausgaard). Hop Along’s songs continue to reveal the curiosities nesting in Quinlan’s mind.

Bark Your Head Off, Dog Tracklist

1. How Simple
2. Somewhere a Judge
3. How You Got Your Limp
4. Not Abel
5. The Fox in Motion
6. One That Suits Me
7. What the Writer Meant
8. Look of Love
9. Prior Things

US Tour Dates

5/1: Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt

5/2: Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts

5/3: Boston, MA @ Royale

5/5: Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar

5/6: Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry

5/7: Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall

5/8: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall

5/10: Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West

5/11: Birmingham, AL @ Saturn

5/12: Nashville, TN @ Exit / In

5/14: Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi

5/15: Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups

5/19: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

5/30: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

6/1: Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall

6/2: Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont

6/3: South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground

6/5: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

6/6: Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit

6/8: Toronto, ON @The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

6/9: Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch

6/10: Chicago, IL @ Metro

6/12: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall

6/13: St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club

6/16: Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room

6/18: Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

6/19: Austin, TX @ Barracuda

6/22: St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall

6/23: Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar