Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Tops Announce Spring 2015 Tour Dates


Following up on last year’s excellent sophomore LP Picture You Staring, Montreal’s TOPS are back to announce new tour dates in Japan, North America, and Europe. To celebrate the band is also sharing a new and interactive video for “Outside” starring lead singer Jane Penny.



Speaking on the video, director Fantavious Fritz said “Outside is one of my favourite tracks! It carries such sublime simplicity and unity, like a well-curated collage or painting of sounds. This website came out of a desire to experiment with the internet as a medium and visually portray this idea of collage with video / performance. In ‘Outside’, the internet serves as a canvas for play with colours, shapes and moving kinetic form, allowing for many different viewings of the piece.”




Watch: “Outside” (Interactive version) - fritzmagnets.com/outside.html





Tour Dates:



February 7th | Kanazawa, JP | Artgummi

February 8th | Osaka, JP | Chika Ikkai

February 9th | Hiroshima, JP | 092 Banquet

February 10th | Fukuoka, JP | Utero

February 11th | Kumamoto, JP | Navaro

February 12th | Kobe, JP | Helluva Lounge

February 13th | Kyoto, JP | Metro

February 14th | Tokushima, JP | Crowbar

February 15th | Hamamatsu, JP | Kirchherr

February 16th | Nagoya, JP | KD Japon

February 17th | Tochigi, JP | Hello Dolly

February 18th | Sendai, JP | Space Zero & NeoBrotherz

February 19th | Tokyo, JP | O-Nest

February 20th | Tokyo, JP | Fever (late night party)


February 22nd | Los Angeles, CA | The Echo (All Ages Early Show) – TICKETS

February 23rd | San Fransisco, CA | Brick & Mortar – TICKETS

February 25th | Portland, OR | Mississippi Studios – TICKETS

February 27th | Vancouver, BC | The Biltmore – TICKETS

February 28th | Mexico, DF | Deportivo Lomas Atlas (NRMAL Festival) – TICKETS

March 5th | Minneapolis, MN | Icehouse – TICKETS

March 6th | Chicago, IL | Subterranean – TICKETS

March 7th | Detroit, MI | UFO Factory – TICKETS

March 8th | Toronto, ON | Smiling Buddha – TICKETS

March 9th | Hamilton, ON | Baltimore House – TICKETS

March 12th | Dallas, TX | Three Links (Red Bull Sound Select Dallas: Curated by Gorilla vs Bear) – TICKETS

March 13th | Waltham, MA | Chums

March 14th | Brooklyn, NY | Baby’s All Right (late night) – TICKETS

March 19th | Quebec, QC | Le Cercle –  TICKETS

March 20th | Montreal, QC | Le Ritz PDB – TICKETS

May 11th | Birmingham, UK | The Hare & Hounds –  TICKETS

May 12th | Bristol, Avon, UK | Start The Bus – TICKETS

May 13th | Manchester, UK | Gullivers – TICKETS

May 14th | London, UK | Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club – TICKETS

May 19th | Luxembourg, LU | De Gudde Wëllen – TICKETS

May 20th | Rotterdam, NL | WORM – TICKETS

May 21st | Hamburg, DE | Aalhaus – TICKETS

May 23rd | Mannheim, DE | Maifield Derby Festival – TICKETS

May 24th | Dortmund, DE | Way Back When Festival – TICKETS

May 26th | Prague, CZ | 007 Club Strahov – TICKETS

May 27th | Leipzig, DE | Goldhorn

May 28th | Berlin, DE | Privat Club – TICKETS

May 30th | Copenhagen, DK | Vega (Ideal Bar) – TICKETS

June 1st | Stockholm, SE | Lilla Hotellbaren – TICKETS

June 3rd | Amsterdam, NL | OT301 – 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