There are few times when you’re left in wide-eyed silence, looking around, and realizing that the rest of the room is sharing the same awe. Unfortunately, this was not only the experience resulting from every Ovlov set, but also an outcome of Ovlov’s Facebook farewell statement.

We will be given a little ease in the farewell, though. An album’s worth of new material was written by Hartlett prior to the finalized idea of ending Ovlov. The new tracks will be recorded under a new name and all of the parts will be played by Hartlett himself. After witnessing genius guitar riffs played amongst such modesty, show after show, this Hartlett album is bound to be something great.

Let’s be real though, we’re all still pretty bummed and below are some musicians who can relate. When asked to share their favorite Ovlov show memory, this is what they had to say:

Ally of Potty Mouth

In a time when so many bands are trying to pull off the same nostalgic guitar sound, Ovlov — hands down — does it the best. Steve is the perfect combo of earnest while not giving a shit. We’ve seen and played with Ovlov many times and every show has a way of making you feel like you’re part of something special. One of our favorite Ovlov shows happened last summer when they played a basement in western Mass for Blessed State’s record release, along with California X and Sneeze. Ovlov played last and the whole room was a big, sweaty, spirited mess. It was perfect.

Sam of Two Inch Astronaut

My favorite Ovlov memory would have to be when we played the Court Tavern in New Jersey together a good while ago. Up until they played, the show felt kind of haphazard and muddled with weird sound and a weirder atmosphere. A normal show, in other words, but when Ovlov (at this point it the three brother lineup) took the stage, there was an obvious shift in attention from drinking and jabbering to their arrestingly beautiful melodies and humble-yet-rocking implementation. It was one of those rare moments where a band wielding nothing flashier than the strength of their songs and crushing execution (no hype of any kind at that time) is able to completely command a room. Afterwards we got fucked up and they told us the story that inspired the “Bad Brother” album title, which remains one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. It was a great night and though I know Steve will go on to make music that will be equally affecting, Ovlov and that night will always hold a special place in my heart of hearts.

Alex of Dirty Dishes

My favorite Ovlov show was in an Allston basement off Brainerd in 2011 or 2012, I can’t remember. Steve was playing drums with disco doom and the Ovlov lineup was just the 3 brothers. They played all of ‘What’s So Great About The City?’ and most of ‘Crazy Motorcycle Jump’. Everybody loved it. Duh. It embodied everything awesome about Exploding In Sound bands and all good artists in General. songs with depth played loud and with energy, super tight but also chaotic, and not giving a fuck what might happen in the next 10 seconds cuz whatever dude.

I also fondly remember seeing them at TT’s with one of Speedy Ortiz’s first shows. Might even have been Mike Falcone’s (bassist) first set with Speedy and last with Ovlov. Maybe not their best sounding set, but it was still awesome.

Oooorrr when they played O’Briens in 2012, with Andy from Grass Is Green on bass. Just another amazing perspective of those songs.

The Exploding In Sound birthday party last year was also fantastic. Steve seemed super hung over but it still ruled. I don’t know, they’re one of my favorite bands, it’s hard to pick a favorite set.

Sadie of Speedy Ortiz

I met Brian Connor, the bassist of my old band, Quilty, at a show at the Herloom Arts Theatre, an all-ages space in Danbury, C.T. Brian had passed me a Sunny Day Real Estate ticket stub Sharpied with his e-mail account: bricon2000. At his first practice with Quilty, BriCon spent the first half hour playing us tunes from his ex-bandmate, Steve, all of which he blasted from laptop speakers and streamed from Myspace.com/OvlovEmail. And that was how I first heard OvlovEmail–I mean Ovlov. I was obsessed right away.

Quilty and Ovlov played tons of shows together, in backyards and basements and at the old Silent Barn and random shitty Brooklyn clubs that paid us nothing. Early on in our friendship, I blew off seeing an Autolux show I already had tickets for, just to watch them play. Steve filled in on bass for Quilty when BriCon flaked out. I booked Ovlov at a house show fest called The Boner Show–the first show they played with future Exploding In Sound labelmates, Grass Is Green–and I even played guitar on “Mustachio.” Probably a life highlight.

When Speedy Ortiz was starting, of course I tapped Mike from Ovlov to play with me. And when we needed someone to fill in on guitar for Speedy during a tour with the Breeders, we immediately thought of Steve (who of course brought the shredding and, as a bonus, brought tons of exposed belly).

Three of the members of Speedy Ortiz have played and recorded with Ovlov–Mike as a drummer, me as a backup singer, and Devin, who played additional guitar on the best Ovlov release to date, ‘Am.’ So many of our friends have played with Ovlov over the years, it feels like a big extended family. I doubt Speedy Ortiz would exist as it does without Ovlov (not to mention the pretty tremendous influence Steve has on my songwriting).

This is like the fourth time Ovlov has broken up, so I sort of refuse to believe it’s real. Then again I also believed in Santa Claus until I was like 14. I’m not sure exactly how that’s relevant to whether or not Ovlov is breaking up. I’m betting we’ll see ’em again in some incarnation ‘cuz it’s pretty tough to break up a family that big. If I’m wrong, I owe Steve a pickleback.

Alex Henry of Basement

Ovlov are by far one of the greatest live bands Basement has ever played with. They were all great people, incredibly humble and friendly. I remember the first show of tour and they didn’t even bring merch and everyone was like ‘who are these kids?’ I thought that was amazing. Every night was a pleasure to watch them. Steve’s effortless style as a guitarist was mind blowing and the rest of the guys are amazing at their instruments. I was so relieved we didn’t have to play after them because we would have sounded so bad in comparison. We’re all super bummed that Steve has decided to end things with the band. I hear he has material for a new LP and I look forward to hearing it. I just wish it was with the rest of the guys from Ovlov

Dan Jones of Califonia X

We’re bummed to hear that there will be no more Ovlov. We first saw them at the last Clippers show at the Elks Lodge in 2012. I’m not sure how we had never seen them before because most of us are from Connecticut as well. We’ve played together so much since then and they’ve consistently been amazing to watch. They played one of my favorite sets ever, and I mean of all the bands I’ve ever seen, in a Holyoke basement. There were so many friends there singing along and the whole thing was a giant drunken mess. Which is something only Ovlov pull off. They all switched instruments at the end and somehow it was even more fun. I’m going to miss seeing them as Ovlov but I’m also excited to see what they do next. I love Ovlov.