Last fall, Shimmering Stars became a surprise hit among blogosphere tastemakers when the group’s songs were picked up by the queen bee of music sites, Pitchfork. Now, the garage-pop outfit has signed to ultrahip Seattle label Hardly Art for its debut full-length, Violent Hearts, which is due out September 13.

“We got contacted by a few different labels, and Hardly Art’s deal was one of the best deals that came our way,” explained frontman Rory McClure, citing Vancouver pop-rock trio Dizzy Eyes as his favourite act on the record company’s roster. ”I like the bands, and I like the label, and they’re also really close to Vancouver.”

The one-album, low-commitment deal came as a relief to McClure, who had been sitting on the completed LP for several months before any release plans were finalized. “It’s been a really long process, and I’m kind relieved it’s coming out,” he admits. “There was a point where it was turning into our Chinese Democracy. It was agonizing.”