You think you know Hop Along? You don’t know anything until you’ve seen them live. If you haven’t heard them at all, ever, where on God’s green earth have you been?!

With ‘Painted Shut’ still riding high as a challenger for the best album of the year, what already sounds stunning on record is a million times better in person. And no, I couldn’t believe it was possible either.

Led by Frances Quinlan (a pure beast of vocal power), the raspy, gritty and honest storytelling is simply astounding. If you missed their surge in popularity of the start of the year, now’s the time to get on board the Hop Along train and do whatever you can humanly do, or just outright superhumanly do, to see them live.

Here’s ‘Powerful Man’, a song about Quinlan’s teenage encounter with an abusive adult and her inner battle in how to deal with the situation. It’s a standout.