History

Matt Lunsford and Darcie Knight found Polyvinyl Press, a self-published fanzine focused on album reviews and documenting the burgeoning Midwest underground music scene.

The July issue of Polyvinyl Press contains a split 7” featuring Back of Dave (a hardcore band from Alton, IL) and Walker (a pop-punk band from Lafayette, IN).

Polyvinyl Records is officially born when the final issue of Polyvinyl Press(published in May) features a compilation titled Direction, a 20-track album that documents the mid-‘90s Midwestern D.I.Y. scene.

Rainer Maria, a band featured on the Direction compilation, becomes the first active band on the Polyvinyl roster and releases their debut full-length, Past Worn Searching, in October.

In April, Braid’s seminal album Frame and Canvas is released, giving both the band and Polyvinyl national attention.

American Football’s self-titled debut full-length is released in September, marking the beginning of a relationship with musician Mike Kinsella that continues through his work in Owls, Their / They’re / There, and Owen. For American Football’s 15th anniversary in 2014, a deluxe reissue of the album was released and the band reunited to play shows across the U.S.

Matt and Darcie (now married) move Polyvinyl from suburban Danville, IL, to a house in Champaign-Urbana, IL, a college town with a vibrant music scene, and set up PVHQ in their basement.

The Polyvinyl Winter Tour, featuring Mates of State, Rainer Maria, Owen, and Saturday Looks Good To Me makes its way across the country. Rainer Maria’s set from the show’s stop in Chapel Hill, NC is documented on the CD/DVD Anyone in Love with You (Already Knows).

of Montreal joins the Polyvinyl family and releases Satanic Panic in the Attic. This beloved record and their relentless touring schedule set the groundwork for the Athens-based band’s rise to mainstream popularity, a trend that continued following the release of The Sunlandic Twins(2005) and hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007).

The Polyvinyl 10th Anniversary Celebration takes place in Urbana, IL, with performances by of Montreal, Headlights, Owen, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

A second office opens in the San Francisco Bay Area, giving Polyvinyl a west coast presence and leading to bands such as the Dodos and Sonny & The Sunsets joining the label.

of Montreal unveils its groundbreaking Skeletal Lamping Collection in October, which made their album available in seven different formats – CD, 2xLP (with 3’ x 4’ die-cut horse poster), t-shirt, tote bag, button set, paper lantern, and wall decals – that all come packaged with download codes.

In an effort to help make space in our stockroom, Polyvinyl becomes one of Kickstarter’s earliest success stories with a campaign to “Save 10,000 Records from Destruction” and holds the distinction of being the all-time most funded project on the site for 57 days.

Polyvinyl’s 15-year anniversary culminates with a huge outdoor show put on in conjunction with Pygmalion Music Festival. The nine-band bill features a large portion of the label’s active roster, including Owen, Asobi Seksu, Joan of Arc, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, STRFKR, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, Japandroids, and newly reunitedBraid.

In June,Japandroids releases Celebration Rock, which built on the success of the Canadian duo’s debut full-length ,Post-Nothing, and instantly became one of the most critically acclaimed albums in Polyvinyl’s history.

Polyvinyl begins to revisit classic releases with the launch of a Picture Disc Edition series, that highlights the great artwork and music found on albums such asSTRFKR'sReptilians, of Montreal'sThe Sunlandic Twins, Architecture in Helsinki'sPlaces Like This, and more.

The Polyvinyl 4-Track Singles Series debuts, giving lucky subscribers a new 7” every month throughout the year, all with exclusive songs recorded by 12 different artists (including Cloud Nothings, Into It. Over It., Mikal Cronin, John Vanderslice, and more) on the same 4-track cassette recorder. (Vol. 2 came out in 2015 and Vol. 3 in 2017.)

After 10 years of trying to cram way too many records, people, shelving units, and did we mention records(?) into way too small of a space, Polyvinyl HQ moves to a new building all its own -- complete with windows (yay natural light), an actual warehouse, and most important of all...a dishwasher!

Polyvinyl celebrates its 20th anniversary with a slew of collaborations, including Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl (a 2xLP compilation on which 20 members of the Polyvinyl family past and present cover a song by one of their labelmates), a skateboard deck produced in conjunction with Girl Skateboards, and a screen printed poster and t-shirt -- all tied together by the artwork of Jesse LeDoux, who pulled imagery from 20 classic Polyvinyl releases to create a truly unique design that also serves as a "treasure map" for fans of the label. 

This year also saw high-profile releases from a few bands that were around at the label's beginning, including Aloha, Owen, and the long-awaited sophomore full-length (LP2) from American Football.

The Polyvinyl family grows faster than ever before, welcoming eight new bands, three full-time staffers, and two future music lovers (congrats Andy and Alexis!).

We hit the ground running as soon as the clock struck midnight with the surprise New Year's Day release of Jeff Rosenstock's instant classic POST- and found some new friends forever in the folks at Double Double Whammy, a Brooklyn-based label with whom we partnered and plan to grow old together.

We were also truly honored to be awarded "Record Label of the Year" by our very own Antarctigo Vespucci, who sent us a 5-foot-tall trophy (which we had to assemble ourselves).

It's hard to believe 2019 contained the same 12 months as every other year because WOW, we sure did a lot! First and foremost there were -- count 'em -- 35 releases from old friends (Pedro the Lion! Vivian Girls! Deerhoof!), new friends (Anamanaguchi! Diane Coffee! Chris Farren!) rising stars (Julia Jacklin! Jay Som!), and oh so many more.

Beyond music, we also had the incredibly good fortune to collaborate with some fine folks at Stay Home Club, Intelligentsia Coffee, Elusive Society, and our new BFFs at NumberBarn, who truly went above and beyond in helping us and Chris Farren launch the Born Hot-Line (which managed to break the Internet, a voicemail inbox and the Los Angeles skyline).

This year was certainly one of the most challenging in our (and, let's be real, human) history, but it also came with more than its fair share of rewarding experiences. We were constantly humbled by the outpouring of support for our bands who were stuck at home instead of touring as planned, whether through purchasing their music and merch via the Polyvinyl store, on Bandcamp Fridays and our Stay Home compilation of demos, covers, and previously unreleased material.

Of particular note were Jeff Rosenstock continuing to up his game with the prescient punk-rock opus NO DREAM, welcoming the incomparable Laura Jane Grace to the Polyvinyl family with her debut solo record Stay Alive, as well as bearing witness to the unspeakably cool event that was Nether Meant, a virtual music festival hosted inside of Minecraft that featured performances by Anamanaguchi and American Football in avatar form.

And last, but certainly not least, there was Exquisite Corpse. With everyone stuck at home for the foreseeable future, Rainer Maria's Kaia Fischer made an intriguing proposal: What if Polyvinyl artists past and present were grouped into new "bands" and tasked with creating an original song from scratch remotely? The results exceeded even our wildest expectations: 11-songs that exude the spirit of kinship and community from 47 musicians who came together to make something beautiful during a dark time.

• Polyvinyl Records celebrated 25yrs with the debut of the PV25 podcast
• Announced joint label partnership with Keeled Scales (Austin, TX)
• New Signings: alexalone, Bachelor, Charlotte Cornfield, Good Morning, MAN ON MAN, Momma, Rodrigo Amarante

• Returned to SXSW for the first time in three years, post-COVID alongside our labels partners Double-Double Whammy, Keeled Scales and (fresh off the press) Father/Daughter Records
• Alvvays released Blue Rev to mountains of critical acclaim, topping annual “Best Of" lists from Pitchfork, Stereogum, The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone + more
• New Signings: LIES (Nate & Mike Kinsella), Plato III