Ovlov

Ovlov, a Connecticut outfit, merges the dense guitar assault and propulsive drive of classic Dinosaur Jr. with the melodic appeal of Built to Spill, placing Steve Hartlett’s virtuosic guitar playing and candid vocals at its center. The band issued early EPs that showed strong potential in 2009 and 2011, then broke through with the 2013 full-length Am, which positioned Ovlov as a favored cult favorite amid the era’s glossy emo landscape. Internal and external strains soon fractured the group, prompting Hartlett to launch Stove, yet the hiatus proved brief; Ovlov resurfaced in 2018 with the guitar-driven and introspective TRU before shifting toward brighter pop textures on 2021’s Buds.

During their Connecticut youth, Hartlett and siblings Theo and Jon joined assorted friends in the mid-2000s band Home Movies, but Hartlett eventually moved on and founded Ovlov. Anchored by Hartlett’s songwriting amid an ever-changing roster, the project began performing live and delivered the Crazy Motorcycle Jump EP in 2009, featuring Theo on drums, Dave Berliner on bass, and Quentin Ham on guitar. Their jagged guitar textures and sincere emo-indie blend gained traction largely through Greg Horbal of The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die spreading the news. The follow-up 2011 EP What’s So Great About the City included Michael Falcone on drums plus a vocal cameo from Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis.

Personnel shifted once more when the trio—now with Theo back on drums and Jon on bass—tracked their debut album, assisted in the studio by Michael John Thomas III of Green Is Green and again featuring Dupuis. Hartlett and Thomas then exchanged the recordings for six months, refining the material until satisfied, after which the band signed with Brooklyn’s Exploding in Sound and released Am in July 2013. Jon soon departed, replaced by longtime acquaintance Michael “Boner” Hammond, Jr. on bass and Morgan Luzzi on guitar; the new configuration cut “The Great Crocodile” for a 2014 split with Little Big League and “Ohmu Shell” for a 2014 single alongside LVL UP, Krill, and Radiator Hospital. Despite continued activity and fresh material from Hartlett, Ovlov disbanded in early 2015.

Hartlett promptly started Stove, whose debut Is Stupider arrived in 2015 with Hartlett handling every instrument. The lineup expanded for shows and the 2016 EP Is a Toad in the Rain. Around that time Ovlov reunited with the same members who had been present at the split and commenced work on a new album. Drawing on previously performed but unrecorded songs, older demos predating the band’s formation, and fresh compositions, TRU was tracked once more with Thomas in Brooklyn and issued by Exploding in Sound in mid-2018, soon followed by Stove’s second album ’s Favorite Friend.

Ovlov toured in support of TRU until their final show in July 2019, then promptly began their fourth album. Again mining earlier songs and demos alongside several new pieces, the sessions featured Steve on vocals and guitar, Theo on drums, Jon on bass, and Luzzi on guitar, with backing vocals from Stove and Smile Machine’s Jordyn Blakley, Ringo Deathstarr’s Alex Gehring, and Erin McGrath (who had sung on TRU); their father Ted contributed a saxophone solo on one track. Recording wrapped in early 2020 just before COVID-19 restrictions, during which Steve issued a stream of solo home recordings. The resulting pop-inflected yet guitar-centric Buds finally appeared in late 2021.