BARK YOUR HEAD OFF, DOG

Vinyl LP pressing. Written over the course of 2016 and 2017 and recorded in the summer of the latter year by Frances Quinlan (songwriter/vocalist/rhythm guitar), Tyler Long (bass), Joe Reinhart (guitar), and Mark Quinlan (drums), Bark Your Head Off, Dog addresses disappointment, particularly in man's misuse of power, and relates accounts from the periphery -- one's attempts to retreat from the lengthening shadows of tyrants, both historical and everyday. It considers what itAEs like to cast off longheld and misguided perceptions, yet without the assurance of knowing what new ones will replace them. Much like on Hop AlongAEs first and second records, Get Disowned and Painted Shut, Quinlan seeks in real time to work through these issues. Throughout the album, one gets the sense that Quinlan is wandering in the thicket of a forestua state of being that will feel familiar to longtime listenersuand on this outing, she hasnAEt left a trail of breadcrumbs behind her. The albumAEs artwork, which Quinlan painted herself, invites the listener into that forest, as well. oThere is a terror in getting lost,o she says, othe woods are at the same time beautiful and horrifying.o This curious wandering gives the album, both lyrically and musically, a heightened dimensionality. Bark Your Head Off, Dog is, without question, Hop AlongAEs most dynamic and textured record yet. 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 ae70s girl group vocal arrangements. This time around, theyAEve added strings, more intricate rhythms, lush harmonies (featuring Thin LipsAE Chrissy Tashjian), along with a momentary visit with a vocoder. In more than one place, Mark Quinlan drums like heAEs at a disco with Built to Spill. Most significantly, Bark Your Head Off, Dog shows the band at its strongest and most cohesive. Hop Along (which originally began as QuinlanAEs solo project under the moniker Hop Along, Queen Ansleis) has never sounded so deliberate, so balanced. oSo strange to be shaped by such strange meno is a line that repeats on more than one song on the album. oIAEve been thinking about that a lot. That I just deferred to men throughout my life,o Quinlan says. oBut by thinking youAEre powerless, youAEre really robbing yourself. IAEm at a point in my life where IAEm saying instead, aeWell, what can I do'AEo'