Last year at this time, Keepers of the Carpet had not even played a show in Ames yet. The power-pop quartet from Buffalo Center, Iowa, a town of just a few thousand people, was more accustomed to playing abandoned hog lots in their hometown than nationally recognized college clubs.

Times have changed, though. Sunday, the Keepers will take the stage at People’s Bar and Grill to celebrate the release of its first full-length album.

Even though the band was able to make a name for itself quite quickly in the scene, it definitely wasn’t easy. And bassist Zach Smith points to two shows in particular that really elevated the status of Keepers of the Carpet.

“It’s tough in this town when people don’t know who you are and you don’t have a demo to get shows at places,” Smith says. “The turning point show was probably when we played Lumpy’s the first time last spring.”

That show enabled the group to get its chance at People’s, where it impressed management and was able to land future gigs.

But the most important show may have been the Veishea Battle of the Bands. Although the group didn’t take home first prize, it took home something more important – an offer to join local record label, BiFi Records.

Jordan Mayland, singer and guitarist for the group, can’t stress enough the importance that BiFi has played in the development of the band.

“BiFi is probably the best thing to ever happen to Keepers of the Carpet,” Mayland says. “They are just completely great people to work with; the guys in Bifi have all been in bands and have experienced the types of situations that we are in. If there is a situation or complex they are so easy to deal with.”

Not to mention that without BiFi, Keepers of the Carpet might not have its album out. The record was recorded at the BiFi studio, and the band is very happy with the end results.

“We did a demo at BiFi a little more than a year ago and we were pretty pleased with the way it sounded, then we came back and the record is just huge sounding compared to the demo,” Mayland says.

“It shows how Jordan has progressed as a songwriter,” Smith adds. “You can tell which songs he wrote earlier from what songs he is writing now.”

“We just wanted to put out an album that made people feel good and that was good rock `n’ roll music,” he said.

Sunday’s CD release party at People’s is an all-ages show that starts at 5 p.m. Admission is $3.

Ames rock/pop act and BiFi Records founders Pookey Bleum will open the show.