TOPS
w/ Starcleaner Reunion
Exit/In; Nashville, TN
October 9, 2025
Photos by Ben Burton
Montreal’s TOPS have been making great indie and soft rock and dream pop for nearly 15 years now, honing their earnest, accessible sound across five excellent- and perhaps somewhat under-appreciated, at least stateside- albums. The band recently returned to Nashville for the first time in six years, headlining Exit/In with New York dream pop group Starcleaner Reunion, who made for a fun, vibey, sonically well-matched opening set.
TOPS’ latest LP Bury the Key is their boldest, most conceptual, and sonically distinct work yet, drawing influence from disco and tackling more dark and complicated themes. Making up a bulk of the generous setlist, the new songs soared, but still felt of a piece of the band’s older tunes, landing as a hypnotic, groove-laden, and effortlessly cool performance from vocalist (and sometimes keyboard player and flautist) Jane Penny, guitarist David Carriere, drummer Riley Fleck, and keyboardist Marta Cikojevic (Jackson MacIntosh currently handles bass on tour).
Opening with shimmering, nostalgic Bury the Key pop tune “Wheels at Night,” the band were lit by moody lights and backed by a dynamic screen, the dark, intimate atmosphere of Exit/In lending to a really special and visceral performance for an enthusiastic and packed crowd. New songs like disco jam “ICU2,” atmospheric and propulsive single “Falling on My Sword,” and the etherial soft rocker “Call You Back” all sounded even better live, and were alternated with prior favorites like retro synth-pop jam “Colder & Closer” and earworm title track and set closer “I Feel Alive,” from 2020’s I Feel Alive, “Janet Planet” and “Perfected Steps” from 2022’s Empty Seats EP, groovy breakout “Petals” from 2017’s Sugar at the Gate, “Way to Be Loved” from 2014’s Picture You Staring, plus some other notable singles like “The Hollow Sound of the Morning Chimes,” among others.
By the encore, which featured “Immaterial Girl,” from Marta Cikojevic’s popular solo project Marci, this felt like a perfect encapsulation of what’s made this band so special for the last 15 years, and punctuated why they remain one of the most enduring and dynamic staples of the Montreal indie scene. If you ever have a chance to see TOPS live, you should take it, and we hope their next show in Music City won’t be another six year wait (if it is though, it’ll undoubtedly be worth the wait).