TOPS release new LP + Share music video + Takeover Gorilla Vs. Bear

TOPS RELEASE PICTURE YOU STARING VIA ARBUTUS RECORDS

SHARE MUSIC VIDEO FOR "WAY TO BE LOVED" VIA ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

TAKEOVER GORILLA VS. BEAR

ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES WITH WAMPIRE

Credit: Kendall Stephenson

 

WATCH: "Way To Be Loved" - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmieLVOPW8w

Following last week's album stream via Dazed & Confused, TOPS have now released their sophomore LP Picture You Staring via Arbutus Records. To celebrate, the band is sharing a music video for "Way To Be Loved" and is also doing a site takeover of longtime supporters Gorilla Vs. Bear. Speaking on the video, the band said, "The video was inspired by the party scene in Midnight Cowboy and the movie Nowhere by Gregg Araki. We dolled up our place, provided refreshments and tunes. Our friends came with bells on and did their thing, it felt like a low-budget swingers wedding. Message: Be who you are and love one another."

After recently performing with Blood Orange, the Montreal-based four-piece are also proud to announce new tour dates with Wampire.

 

Tour Dates:

  

09/04/14 @ The Drake - Toronto, ON Tickets

09/19/14 @ Sala Rossa - Montreal, QC (Pop Montreal) Tickets
10/02/14 @ Lost Lake - Denver, CO Tickets
10/03/14 @ Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS Tickets
10/04/14 @ Entry - Minneapolis, MN Tickets
10/06/14 @ Frequency - Madison, WI Tickets
10/07/14 @ Demo - St. Louis, MO Tickets
10/08/14 @ The End - Nashville, TN Tickets
10/09/14 @ Do317 - Indianapolis, IL Tickets
10/10/14 @ Subterranean - Chicago, IL Tickets
10/11/14 @ Jumbo's - Detroit, MI Tickets
10/12/14 @ Happy Dog - Cleveland, OH
10/14/14 @ Silver Dollar - Toronto, ON Tickets
10/15/14 @ Divan Orange - Montreal, QC Tickets
10/16/14 @ Church - Boston, MA Tickets
10/18/14 @ Milkboy - Philadelphia, PA Tickets
10/27/14 @ DC9 - Washington, DC Tickets
10/28/14 @ Cat's Cradle (back room) - Carrboro, NC Tickets
10/29/14 @ 529 - Atlanta, GA Tickets
10/30/14 @ Syndicate Lounge - Birmingham, AL Tickets
10/31/14 @ Circle Bar - New Orleans, LA
11/01/14 @ Fitzgerald's Downstairs - Houston, TX  Tickets
11/03/14 @ Tavern - Dallas, TX Tickets
11/04/14 @ Mohawk (inside) - Austin, TX Tickets
11/05/14 @ Lowbrow Palace - El Paso, TX Tickets

 

About TOPS:

TOPS are a four-piece band from Montreal, equal parts girls and guys, delivering a raw punk take on AM studio pop. Their new record, Picture You Staring, is a lush array of timelessly crafted songs.

Picture You Staring gathers strength through intimacy. Self-written, recorded, produced, and the result of 12 months holed up in Arbutus Records' Montreal office-space turned studio, this album contains 12 impeccable examples of pop craftsmanship that will reward repeat listeners.

Singer Jane Penny gives a voice to the silent girl at the edge of the circle, disillusioned but honest and unpretentious, a tone complemented by David Carriere's seamless guitar playing and the measured drumming of Riley Fleck. TOPS' songs are delivered with a cool restraint that blend with the individuality and self-assured desire of their female lead.

David and Jane met in middle school, but didn't stay in touch until they reunited in Montreal where they've been collaborating since 2009. Unintentionally initiating a pop music scene in Montreal, their strange homemade recordings have gained an international following. In 2011 they were joined Riley Fleck and started jamming at the loft space La Brique where they wrote and recorded their first record, Tender Opposites. TOPS continue to engineer and produce their own records and make their own videos in collaboration with fellow artists and filmmakers. In opposition to commercially driven pop music, TOPS pursuit lies in creating moving songs that succeed earnestly, disregarding trends and myth-making.

Jane, David and Riley have equal footing with their respective instruments and their sparring exceeds the imagination of any individual. For their new record TOPS have enlisted Madeline Glowicki to play bass. Like Jane and David, Madeline grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and went to the same elementary as Jane. A natural musician, and contributor to the Editorial 

magazine, the band are happy to have another prairie girl on board. LA-based painter Jessica Dean Harrison created the artwork especially for the release. It is a conceptual interpretation of the record's title, continued in a large poster depicting a group scene, included with the purchase of a vinyl record.

TOPS

Picture You Staring

(September 2, 2014, Arbutus)

Purchase

  

1. Way To Be Loved
2. Blind Faze
3. Circle The Dark
4. Outside
5. All The People Sleep
6. Sleeptalker
7. Superstition Future
8. 2 Shy

9. Change Of Heart
10. Easier Said
11. Driverless Passenger
12. Destination

Mixed by Jacob Portrait

Mastered by Ryan Morey

Painting by Jessica Dean Harrison

Design and layout by Ryan McCardle