''Tru'' (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by American band

Ovlov Ovlov is an American rock band from Newtown, Connecticut. The band is led by guitarist/vocalist Steve Hartlett, usually accompanying him, his brothers Theo and Jon on drums and bass, respectively, and guitarist Morgan Luzzi. Steve Hartlett is a m ...

, released on 20 July 2018 via Exploding in Sound Records. After releasing their first studio album, ''Am'' (2013), the band had temporary break-ups, but eventually re-emerged. ''Tru'' was recorded around late 2016 and early 2017, and two singles were premiered before its official release. The album received "universal acclaim" according to

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Background and release

After the release of the band's debut studio album, ''Am'' (2013), Ovlov went through a series of temporary break-ups. However, the band started to reemerge, playing some shows and releasing the ''Greatest Hits Vol. II'' collection in 2017. Steve Hartlett, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of Ovlov, has said that the majority of the songs were written around 2015 or 2016, but some were demos for the first record from around 2011 or 2012. The album was recorded around late 2016 or early 2017. On 21 May 2018, they premiered the album's lead single, "Spright", via ''

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''. They also premiered "Short Morgan" on 11 June 2018, via ''

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''. The album was fully released on 20 July 2018 via Exploding in Sounds Records.

Composition

''Tru'' has been called as an album from the genres

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

and

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' said that the track "Spright" is "slower and softer" than other Ovlov songs, and described it as a "gentler

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

Critical reception

''Tru'' was met with generally positive reviews from critics. On the

and

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

, the album received a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of, respectively, 86/100 (indicating "universal acclaim") and 7.2.

Track listing

Adapted from Bandcamp. # "Baby Alligator" – 4:27 # "Half Way Fine" – 3:27 # "The Best Of You" – 2:04 # "Spright"" – 2:40 # "Stick" – 3:22 # "Tru Punk" – 3:34 # "Fast G" – 2:42 # "Short Morgan" – 2:00 # "Grab It From The Garden" – 6:10

Personnel

Adapted from Bandcamp. *Michael John Thomas III - guitar solo (track 9), engineering (tracks 3, 6, 7, 8 & 9), mixing & mastering (all) *Jesse Weiss - engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5) *Alec and Jack Pombriant - co-engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5) *Steve Hartlett - vocals, guitar, bass, synth (track 3) *Theo Hartlett - vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5), drums, (track 5), guitar (track 9) *Morgan Luzzi - guitar (all), vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5) *Michael Hammond Jr. - bass, guitar (track 3) *Erin McGrath - vocals (track 1)

Notes

References

2018 albums {{2010s-alt-rock-album-stub