Bark Your Head Off, Dog is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Hop Along. It was self-produced, written over the course of 2016 and 2017, recorded at The Headroom in Philadelphia during 2017, and released on April 6, 2018.[11]
Guitarist Joe Reinhart utilized "math emo" guitar techniques such as tapping, which drew comparisons to Algernon Cadwallader, his previous band. NPR wrote that the guitarist employed "twinkly, expressive guitar riffs that defined his defunct emo band Algernon Cadwallader and made that music feel unbridled and joyous."[24] Some of the album's guitar rhythms have drawn comparisons to Paramore.[25][26]
Lyrics
The lyrics on the album have been described as feeling "impressionistic".[27]
Critical reception
Bark Your Head Off, Dog was met with "universal acclaim" by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the release received an average score of 81 based on 14 reviews.[2]
Music aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 79 out of 100 score based on a critical consensus of 20 reviews,[28] and, after aggregating a number of 2018's year-end best-albums lists, placed the album at #43 in the resultant ranking of the best 100 albums of the year.[29]
^Freedman, Max (February 3, 2020). "Frances Quinlan on Her Favorite Paintings (and Two of Her Own)". Interview. Retrieved November 23, 2024. Quinlan hasn't backed away from her first love, even as her band has found itself becoming a fan favorite and critical darling. The artwork for Hop Along's most recent album, 2018's Bark Your Head Off, Dog, is an abstract landscape portrait that would make Quinlan's painterly heroes proud.
^"Interview: Hop Along's Frances Quinlan on Expanding Their DIY Rock Vision". Reverb. June 12, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2024. Though one may assume the resulting album would be a return-to-basics affair, the setup allowed Hop Along to use their long-standing DIY impulses to craft a record with an expanded sonic palette that includes strings, danceable rhythms, and orchestral-pop arrangements—all while maintaining the power and frankness of their earlier work.
^"My bark is your bite: Hop Along". DIY. Retrieved November 23, 2024. 'Bark Your Head Off, Dog' sees Hop Along at their most vibrantly diverse. It still features the grunge and punk-inflected tones that coloured its predecessors, with rollicking guitar lines and soaring power-pop hooks, but there's also added intricacies, from sweeping and lush orchestral arrangements to blissful harmonies.
