On the heels of releasing her solo debut Likewise, Frances Quinlan will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Hop Along with a previously unreleased EP, More Songs From 2005.
The EP contains three songs and it’s currently available via Bandcamp. The Philly singer-songwriter will also drop the band’s 2005 debut Freshman Year (released under the name Hop Along, Queen Ansleis) on streaming services for the first time.
Quinlan recorded and produced Freshman Year and Songs From 2005 in her parent’s basement in rural Pennsylvania during a summer break after her freshman year at the Maryland Institute College of Art. “I must have been pretty hard to be around that summer,” she reflected in a statement. “To be fair, I’ve had moments where I’ve broken down during every single record I or my band has made. Back then I somehow took myself even more seriously. I would come up from the basement frantic, in tears. I was 19 and trying to make the album that would transform my life, make me famous.”
“I just barely finished it in time and then rushed to Long Island, where my friend Phil Douglas (of the band Iron Chic — I’d met him through playing shows in the basement that was also his bedroom — the place was called The Hobo House) mixed and mastered it in less than two days. Then I had to make the sleeves so I could give out/sell some copies in my parents’ backyard for the release show. For this, I had the brilliant idea of making the first 20 or 50 copies (I can’t remember how many) have their sleeves be actual ORIGINAL etchings — that’s actually what the cover art is taken from, the first etching I ever made. I think I was able to make five of those. My mom has one, I’m not sure where the others are…Maybe it was less than five.”
Proceeds from both Freshman Year and More Songs From 2005 will be donated to D.O.P.E. (Doing Our Part Eclectically), a Philadelphia non-profit organization that aims to strengthen local communities through social, economic, education/health services, leadership development and advocacy. Both releases feature artwork by Quinlan.
On Saturday, Quinlan will commemorate the band’s anniversary with an Instagram performance at 6 p.m. ET She recently appeared in a segment of Rolling Stone‘s In My Room.
More Songs From 2005 EP Tracklist
1. The Diver Song
2. Marigold & Mr. O
3. King Crab
Freshman Year Tracklist
1. –
2. Sirens
3. For Sebastian From a Friend
4. Elizabeth & Elizabeth
5. The Cactus
6. Failure
7. The Big House
8. Of My Brothers and the Bear
9. Hi Too Loo Rye
10. Laments of a Mattress
11. Bruno is Orange
12. Bride and Groom Hot Air Balloon
13. The Goose & the Wren
14. Workers
15. A Drummer’s Arm
