Topshelf Records

Last year, Pianos Become the Teeth toured Europe with now great friends and label mates, Suis La Lune. They came back to the US with nothing but praise and high esteem for them. We’re obviously fans of the band and what they’ve done, but we’d never really worked with an international band on a project from start to finish and just had never really given it much thought until that point.

So after mulling it over some, today we’re happy to announce that we’ll be working with Sweden’s Suis La Lune in releasing their next LP, Riala. This marks the first international act that we’ve worked with entirely from start to finish on a release. The band is self-producing Riala, which will be released this spring.

Here’s a statement the band wrote up about it all:

Six years after our debut album and countless tours in both Europe and the US, it is finally time for the sophomore album entitled Riala to see the light of day. Still with the mix of calm and hectic passages present, the sound has evolved into what almost feels like complex pop songs; more melodic, catchier and with as much passion as ever before. Suis La Lune is happy to present their latest effort and proudest moment to date via Topshelf Records in the spring of 2012.

You can check out Suis La Lune on Facebook. Woo!

Pianos Become The Teeth and Xerxes will be heading out on tour in the US and Canada in February and March. Check out the dates below!

• Feb. 24 - The Studio at Webster Hall - New York City
• Feb. 25 - The Space - Hamden, Ct.
• Feb. 26 - 242 Main St. - Burlington, Vt.
• Feb. 28 - Cafe L’ Agitee - Quebec City, Quebec
• Feb. 29 - L’escogriffe - Montreal, Quebec
• March 1 - Mavericks - Ottawa, ON
• March 2 - Hard Luck - Toronto, ON
• March 3 - The Mansion House - St. Catharines, ON
• March 4 - Lounge @ London Music Hall - London, ON
• March 6 - Sugar City - Buffalo, NY
• March 7 - Carabar - Columbus, OH
• March 8 - Bangarang’s - Covington, Ky.
• March 9 - Smiling Moose - Pittsburgh, Pa.
• March 10 - Altoona Masonic Temple - Altoona, Pa.

These dates will be followed by a European run of dates with Touche Amore and Goodtime Boys. We’ll have those dates soon as well!

Pswingset have become some of our very good friends and people whose opinions we’ve come to both value and respect over the years. They are, to be frank, the most unprolific prolific band I know. Let me explain through the lazy use of an unordered list:

• Jordan used to play in Adios (Tribunal Records) and played bass for Annabel (Tiny Engines) for a bit.
• Danny used to play in Little Compass (Negative Progression) and currently plays for Papermoons (Deep Elm) and had stints in River City High (Doghouse) and O Pioneers!! (Asian Man)
• Joel plays in Junius (Prosthetic)
• Colby used to play in MANS and currently in Brother/Ghost
• They’ve collectively toured the planet more than a few times
• Ever heard of the Kling Thing house?

I digress, though — They’re much more modest than I am. To me, this is a band compromised of individuals who know exactly what they want their sound to be, with the pedigree to achieve it.

We couldn’t be happier to be working with them on releasing their next record which they just finished recording in Denver and which will be mixed and mastered by Tim Gerak of The Six Parts Seven. I am listening to the roughs right now and I like them, you guys! More details on that later, though.

If this is your first time hearing of Pswingset but you enjoy our roster, I think you’ll be as jazzed about them as we are. Check out their artist page on our site and get acquainted. Thanks!

A Great Big Pile of Leaves will be hitting the road this winter with Mansions & Young Statues (Like, seriously — what a great lineup!). Dates’re below:

• 03/01 - New York, NY (US) - The Knitting Factory
• 03/02 - Asbury Park, NJ (US) - Asbury Lanes
• 03/03 - Philadelphia, PA (US) - The Fire
• 03/04 - Baltimore, MD (US) - Ottobar
• 03/06 - Vienna, VA (US) - Jammin Java
• 03/07 - Durham, NC (US) - Garage
• 03/08 - Atlanta, GA (US) - The Masquerade
• 03/09 - Jacksonville, FL (US) - Jack Rabbits
• 03/10 - Tampa, FL (US) - Transitions
• 03/11 - Orlando, FL (US) - Backbooth
• 03/13 - San Antonio, TX (US) - The Ten Eleven
• 03/14 - Mission, TX (US) - Never Say Never Festival
• 03/15-18 - Austin, TX (US) - SXSW
• 03/20 - Oklahoma City, OK (US) - The Conservatory
• 03/21 - St. Louis, MO (US) - Cicero’s
• 03/22 - Chicago, IL (US) - Schubas
• 03/23 - Louisville, KY (US) - Vernon Room
• 03/24 - Lansing, MI (US) - Mac’s
• 03/25 - Toronto, ON (CA) - Hard Luck Bar
• 03/27 - Pittsburgh, PA (US) - Smiling Moose
• 03/28 - Allentown, PA (US) - Planet Trog
• 03/29 - Poughkeepsie, NY (US) - The Loft @ The Chance
• 03/30 - Hamden, CT (US) - The Space
• 03/31 - Providence, RI (US) - Firehouse 13
• 04/01 - Cambridge, MA (US) - Middle East

When the idea to work with Slingshot Dakota on their next record came about, it was one of those, “Well, I friggin’ love that band and have seen them more times than I can count and they’re really really realllly nice people and we have a lot of the same friends and and and” type things. So, to be blunt, it wasn’t a very hard decision to make. If you’re from anywhere in the northeast, you probably already know and love this band, but if not, why not get acquainted?

So, that all said, we’re excited to announce the band will release their next record with us! The album will be wrapped up this winter and released in spring 2012. Slingshot Dakota will also launch a short East Coast tour with CT’s The World Is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die on January 5th in Wilkes Barre, PA. Dates below!

TWIABP & SLINGSHOT DAKOTA:

• Jan 5 - Wilkes Barre PA @ Redwood Art Space w/ Daylight
• Jan 6 - Washington DC @ Paper House
• Jan 7 - Owings, MD @ 8605 Barn Owl Lane, Owings MD
• Jan 8 – Philly, PA @ The Fire w/ Spraynard, Everyone Everywhere, Stable Boys
• Jan 9 - New Brunswick, NJ @ The Wormhole w/ Dads, Lost Weekend, Backpocket 
• Jan 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Death By Audio

JUST TWIABP (not as good, probably should just stay home):

• Jan 12 - Burlington VT @ Buffalo Bills Basement w/ Cattle Drums 
• Jan 13 - Troy NY @ Bike Rescue w/ Cattle Drums & Sirs
• Jan 14 - Boston @ Whacky Castle w/ Sirs
• Jan 15 - Montclair NJ @ The Meatlocker w/ Sirs

The Saddest Landscape’s new record After the Lights is now available for pre-order! That felt great to be able to type. This is a band Seth and I are fortunate to have been able to work with in the past in releasing a few splits but to be able to help them in releasing their new full length album is really something we’re quite thrilled about.

You can listen to an exclusive track from the new record at Altpress here and preorder the it here. Don’t forget to check out the band on tour with We Were Skeletons in UK / Europe this January (dates here).

Tumblr users! Reblog this post before Friday (12/16/2011) and you’ll be automatically entered to randomly win the above pictured package deal! Reblog! Reblog! Reblog!

Thanks, everyone!

After completing a full US tour with Touche Amore this winter in support of The Lack Long After, Pianos Become the Teeth will again accompany them for some UK dates next spring. Dates are below:

• March 22 - Utrecht, NL @ Helling
• March 23 - Birmingham, UK @ HMV Temple room
• March 24 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
• March 25 - Nottingham, UK @ Basement
• March 26 - Bristol, UK @ Thekla
• March 27 - Manchester, UK @ Sound control
• March 28 - London, UK @ Xoyo

Be sure to catch The Clippers and You Blew It! this December and January on their respective East Coast tours. Dates are below:

This weekend only (November 11 - November 13)! All shirts in the store are just $10.00 (except for the new Pianos Become the Teeth & A Great Big Pile of Leaves ones). After this weekend, we’ll be upping our shirt prices by $1.00 to $13.00… a decision we’ve been fighting for months now… but with rising costs of cotton paired with not wanting to sell anything but high quality shirts with high quality inks, we’ve gotta. That said, we figured we’d offer you guys a last chance to grab stuff on the cheap before we raise the price. Check out all the shirts here!

Tumblr users: Can you get your reblog on? Thanks!

The Saddest Landscape guys have started recording a new record at New Alliance Studios in Boston, MA on November 5, with producer John Taft, who they collaborated with on their last album, 2010’s You Will Not Survive.

Here’re some updates we’ve gotten from the band while in the studio:

“Oh yeah we got a cello player”

“Taft using a whole bunch of gear we don’t understand”

“Day one drums”

“Drums are done we are working on bass, thought you’d like the sweatshirt/label plug”

They also have some UK and European tour dates coming up with We Were Skeletons which are below:

• 06.01.12 – Berlin, Germany – Cassiopeia
• 07.01.12 – Hamburg, Germany – Rote Flora
• 08.01.12 – Cologne, Germany – Aetherblisment
• 09.01.12 – Antwerp, Belgium – Jc Kavka
• 10.01.12 – Brighton, UK – The Green Door Store (w/ End Of A Year & Aficionado)
• 11.01.12 – London, UK – The Black Heart (w/ Goodtime Boys)
• 12.01.12 – Truro, UK – Live Bar (w/ End Of A Year & Aficionado)
• 13.01.12 – Edinburgh, Scotland – The Banshee Labryinth
• 14.01.12 – Leeds, UK – The Well

Some of — what have become a handful of our best friends and all around favorite people — Pianos Become The Teeth, along with Topshelf newbies (but really nice people too, you guys!) A Great Big Pile of Leaves, have both released amazing new records today. We couldn’t be more proud to be associated with both!

Photo by Al Heishman.

Here’s what people have had to say about The Lack Long After:

Astonishing craft. Intense musicianship. Staggering results. -Rock Sound

The Lack Long After savagely forges ahead. As raw and messy as a picked scab, the album lacks in nothing… The Lack Long After isn’t just Pianos’ crowning achievement to date — it’s at the vanguard of post-hardcore’s much-needed renaissance. -Altpress

…an album that ups the ante and shows just how damn impressive this band truly is. Sprawling and stunningly engrossing…Album Rating: A. -Muzik Discovery 

When you get the chance to hear this album, don’t just throw it on and begin crawling around the Internet or cleaning your house. Take forty minutes, put on some headphones and follow along with every deep cut of Durfey’s tongue. You’ll probably sit there for a good ten minutes afterward trying to take it all in. That moment is a rare experience where music transcends a flat feeling of enjoyment into an overwhelming feeling of deep connection. That’s when you know an album holds some sort of grander power. -Absolutepunk

[T]his record will break your heart. -Bedwetting Cosmonaut

A profound and engaging musical experience that displays why Pianos Become the Teeth are so damn good at what they do. -Sputnik Music

…an emotion-wringing journey of loss and struggle …an album you will be moved by. -Mind Equals Blown

If you haven’t gotten the record or checked it out yet, you can stream The Lack Long After at Rock Sound and read singer Kyle Durfey’s explanation of each Track over on Altpress.

Photo by Dan Bassini.

If you haven’t yet checked out any of A Great Big Pile of Leaves’ new stuff yet, you can stream Live From the Living Room at AltPress and stream BOOM! at AOL’s Spinner.

Aside from all that, we’ve had an absolute blast at CMJ and Fest — it was so great to meet so many people and hang out with so many new and old friends alike! Up next: Fun Fun Fun Fest… see ya soon, Texas!

Lastly, if you haven’t yet picked up either one of these records you can do so in our store. They’re both in and shipping! Thanks.

Hey everyone! We’re REALLY excited about our return to Fest this coming weekend! We’ve printed some exclusive merch, which we’ll have all day at the flea market on Friday (at Holiday Inn) along with our entire catalog and a bunch of other free stuff. The image above is a shirt design done up by Ben Sears that we’ll have for sale. Super limited so be sure to get to us early! We’ll also have koozies (pictured below). Also below is info on when & where Topshelf bands will be playing throughout the weekend. See ya there!

And now, for all your schedule making needs:

FRIDAY @ BAR 1982
Grown Ups: 9:40 - 10:10
Doors 5:40pm. $10 or FREE w/ FEST 10 pass. ALL AGES. 20 walk up sales available.

SATURDAY @ THE ATLANTIC
A Great Big Pile of Leaves: 10:10 - 10:40
Doors 2:10pm. $15 or FREE w/ FEST 10 pass. 18+. 25 walk up sales available.

SUNDAY @ THE ATLANTIC
Native: 7:30 - 8:00
Pianos Become the Teeth: 5:00 - 5:30
We Were Skeletons: 4:10 - 4:40
Doors 1:20pm.
$15 or FREE w/ FEST 10 pass 18+. 25 walk up sales available.

Our CMJ showcase (sponsored by Greenvans!) is tonight!

Doors are at 7pm and the first 50 people in will get a free 12x18 screen printed poster!

The line up’s below:

• 7:30pm - Sirs
• 8:15pm - Prawn
• 9:00pm - The World Is…
• 9:45pm - By Surprise
• 10:30pm - The Clippers
• 11:15pm - The Saddest Landscape
• 12:00am - A Great Big Pile of Leaves

There will be $1 shots, $2 beers, $3 mixed drinks and FREE love from Topshelf. We’ll also have our entire catalog with all of our new and old releases on hand along with some shirts and other goodies.

Need a ride? Coordinate with other people for rides here!

See you tonight!

This will obviously rule. Get details and RSVP here.