Topshelf Data has dropped Washington, D.C. punk band Ekko Astral and is straight away ceasing all involvement with The Beltway Is Burning, their upcoming second album. The document label didn’t initially specify its reasoning. “We are able to not help Ekko Astral and won’t be releasing their album 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨,” Topshelf wrote on Instagram. “This consists of the top of in-house PR service from the label. Refunds for pre-orders will probably be issued inside 5-10 enterprise days.”
When requested if Topshelf’s choice was associated to the current fallout between Ekko Astral frontwoman Jael Holzman and former drummer Miri Tyler, the label collectively advised Pitchfork, “Sure, all of those occasions, and extra, have irreversibly impacted our potential to proceed working with this band or releasing their music. Now we have no additional remark.”
In an announcement to Pitchfork, Holzman mentioned, “There’s loads of misinformation spreading about this story. We can have extra to share within the close to future.” Holzman additionally confirmed that The Beltway Is Burning will nonetheless be launched independently, calling it “our satisfaction and pleasure.”
The sudden announcement from Topshelf comes within the wake of final week’s Washington Metropolis Paper story, which describes the rift between Holzman and Tyler. On February 6, Holzman filed a peace order petition in Montgomery County District Courtroom, accusing Tyler of threatening her on social media. In accordance with the story, Tyler has denied making threats in opposition to anybody.
“I don’t wish to see Miri Tyler go to jail and don’t assume that could be a treatment right here,” Holzman reportedly wrote in her petition. “However I would like her to remain far, far-off from me and go away me alone, so we are able to each transfer on and she will discover the assistance she clearly wants.” The peace order in opposition to Tyler stays in impact till August 13.
Tyler publicly introduced her exit from Ekko Astral on January 28, however mentioned on the time she deliberate on taking part in a last present at this 12 months’s Liberation Fest II, the D.C. punk competition supporting trans liberation and mutual help, which is about to happen in April. Holzman advised Stereogum that Tyler is “completely not barred” from taking part in the competition, including, “[it’s] a group occasion for anybody, the order speaks nothing on that, and I’d do something to be sure that mission stays true.”
Ekko Astral launched their debut full-length, Pink Balloons, on Topshelf in 2024. Greatest associates Holzman and Liam Hughes began the band in 2021, and expanded right into a four-piece to incorporate drummer Miri Tyler and bassist Guinevere Tully shortly afterwards. Just a few months after releasing Pink Balloons, Tully left Ekko Astral, citing “a destructive toll on [her] bodily and psychological well being” and a want to concentrate on her solo venture, Rosslyn Station.
