Played at Summerfest

While on tour in 2011, Flatfoot 56 played at Summerfest in Milwaukee with Less than Jake . Less than Jake drummer Vinnie Fiorello , owner of Paper + Plastick Records, saw the band play and was impressed by their energy and performance. When he discovered that the band was looking for a record label, he offered to sign them. Paper + Plastick officially announced the signing in October 2011. The band reteamed with Black Thorn producer Johnny Rioux , feeling the familiarity would allow them to work more freely, and recorded the album in January 2012 at Atlas Studios in Chicago. The album, Toil , was released on July 30, 2012 and received favorable reviews from Alternative Press and AbsolutePunk , with the latter writing: “It’s not every day you come across a Christian group that’s unabashedly liberal politically. On Toil , it’s much less a gimmick and much more a reflection of the band’s genuity – their working class roots and the ability they have to combine faith, culture and song to stand up for them. That, to me, deserves a respect that runs deeper than the freshness, or lack thereof, of a melody.”