Merge has announced the signing of Vertical Scratchers! The band was formed in a van in Los Angeles by John Schmersal, whom you may know from seeing Caribou live, his current band Crooks on Tape, and/or his former bands Enon and Brainiac, and Christian Beaulieu, the former leader of Triclops! and a current member of Peace Creep and Anywhere.

Christian is “beyond stoked” to release a record on the same label that put out Verbena’s Souls for Sale album, and he’s also excited to be labelmates with fellow San Franciscan Mikal Cronin. John is just happy to be here and, in his words, “frankly waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me to ‘get back to work!’” He is also thrilled to be releasing a record on the same label as Polvo.

Look for the debut album from Vertical Scratchers in early 2014. We will have lots more to share about them soon, but in the meantime, you can check out check out VerticalScratchers.com