Hop Along is going to hit the Turner Hall Ballroom on June 10th, at 8 p.m. Milwaukee is their third Midwestern stop during their summer tour, which starts June 1st. Bat Fangs, an indie rock band with sounds reminiscing of 80’s rock and pop will be opening up for them. After Milwaukee, Hop Along will play its next show on the 13th in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Hop Along has more folk influence than its opening counterpart and sounds more similar to The Front Bottoms or Chewing on Tinfoil. But Hop Along’s music has more variety than most tired folk records. Despite their folky influence, their new album has a lot of dance-able, groovy tracks, almost like a pop record. This year, the band released its latest album, “Bark Your Head Off, Dog.”
Hop Along’s bassist, Tyler Long, says that the band isn’t influenced by other people’s songs or albums, but they enjoy listening to artists like Tom Petty and The Strokes. “A lot of it is Frances’s expression with lyrics,” Long says, referring to Frances Quinlan, the band’s frontwoman and songwriter.
Long says that early Hop Along was straight ahead rock, while their newer stuff has a bigger folk element. He says the new music is “Vibey and mood-based.”
“Before we signed onto Saddle Creek we self-released,” Long says, talking about the band’s record label since 2014, “Being a part of a record label offers a lot more resources, publicity and a little more clout.”
Bat Fangs is a rock duo from North Carolina, made up of singer and guitarist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura King. Their sound does indeed come with a bite, heavy like an early Ozzy Osbourne or Twisted Sister album. Bat Fangs’ music carries a lot of similarity to old hair band artists like Ozzy, Def Leppard and a little bit of Motley Crue.
Bat Fangs will be touring alongside Hop Along until the end of June. Tickets for their show at Turner Hall are on sale right now, starting at $16.
Picture of the band hanging out, credit to Girlie Action.