The Perpetual Motion Machine

Total Fest X, Summer Sale, Tours

2011-08-08T16:38:00.007-06:00

Here's a small update from the Perpetual Motion Motion HQ. Not much to report, but here are a few important bits.

END OF SUMMER SALE -- 15% Off Now through Sept 1.

To clear out some old stock, I'm offering a 15% off discount for all orders. To take advantage of this, you must order between now and September 1. To get the discount, enter the coupon code SUMMER15 when you check out. Email if you have any questions. Thanks so much for the support!

PMM Online Store

TOTAL FEST X -- August 18-20, 2011 in Missoula, Montana

I've been busy the past few months helping to put together Total Fest, an annual DIY music fest here in Missoula, Montana started by my pals Josh and Niki at Wantage USA Records. This the tenth year anniversary and it goes down the weekend of August 18-20. This year, the 3-day weekend of music will feature 45 great bands from all over the US (and a few international ones, too) with something for everyone, including Big Business, Hammerhead, Helms Alee, The Men, Milk Music, Gun Outfit, Kowloon Walled City, Gull (Nate from Snack Truck / Ultra Dolphins) and more. Since the shows are at night, there are plenty of opportunities in the day time for hiking, biking, tubing, barbecues and a record swap on Saturday. Advance weekend tickets are now on sale for $45 (or $50 at the door). Consider making the trek and come see our rad town and some excellent music. It will be lots of fun!

Tickets, schedule and details at http://totalfest.org.

KOWLOON WALLED CITY -- Upcoming Shows & Updates

Speaking of Total Fest, this will be Kowloon Walled City's last show with their guitarist, Jason Pace. Come wish him farewell. See the full story here. After Total Fest, they will be playing some shows with their new guitarist, Jon, from Tigon.

9/4 Oakland, CA @ Eli’s Mile High w/ Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Walken
9/17 San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside w/ Rorschach, Early Graves

In the next few weeks, I'll next be issuing a limited edition split cassette from KWC and BATILLUS, from their live set at WFMU during their east coast tour last October. This is going into production shortly and should be out in late August / early September. More details to follow soon.

THE CATALYST -- August Tour

The Catalyst are currently on the road in support of their not-so-new Swallow Your Teeth LP/CD and upcoming split 7" with Aussitot Mort. Go see them. Stream/download their releases for free here.

Shows with GNARWHAL:
August 8th: Pittsburgh PA @ Kopec's w/ Ed Hochuli
August 9th: Cleveland OH @ The Happy Dog w/ All Dinosaurs
August 10th: Chicago IL @ Live Wire Lounge w/ Cloud Mouth
August 11th: Belleville IL @ Illegal Tone Recordings
August 12th: Nashville TN @ Little Hamilton Collective w/ Britches
August 13th: Memphis TN @ The Frame

Just THE CATALYST:
August 14th: New Orleans LA @ Euclid Records w/ Small Bones, Baby Boy (Matinee)
August 15th: Tallahassee FL @ The Farside w/ Nailbiter, Atrocitus, Brainstorm

Shows with CAPSULE (FL):
August 16th: Gainesville FL @ The Atlantic w/ Chronic Youth
August 17th: Savannah GA / possible day off
August 18th: Columbia SC @ Conundrum Music Hall w/ Tunguska
August 19th: Richmond VA @ Best Friends Day 10 at The Canal Club w/ Dead To Me, Strike Anywhere, Pg. 99, Converge

That's it for now. Support these bands by seeing them live and buying their music. Get outside and enjoy the weather. Have a great rest of your summer.

- Paul / PMM

THOU/MOLOCH Cassette Repressed, European Tour

2011-06-05T05:29:00.003-06:00

In case you missed out on this excellent split cassette last summer, we have done a small repress for the THOU / MOLOCH European Tour. These are professionally duplicated with black ink on red shell cassettes. Comes packaged with a letterpress-printed j-card (red ink on brown paper) and lyric insert. Limited to 200 with only 75 available for the US. Available in UK/Europe from Feast of Tentacles or on their tour.

On this pairing of Baton Rouge, Louisiana's THOU with Nottingham, UK's MOLOCH, Thou offer up two epic songs of crushing sludge/doom with hints of melody while Moloch drop three down-trodden new tunes of heavy and hateful sludge. I also have a few more copies of the split 12" available for mailorder.

Order online at:

http://theperpetualmotionmachine.bigcartel.com

Thou / Moloch European Tour

10.06 - Brighton, England at Cowley Club

11.06 - Groningen, Netherlands at Vera

12.06 - Eindhoven, Netherlands at Area 51

13.06 - Leiden, Netherlands at 071

14.06 - Bielefeld, Germany at AJZ

15.06 - Hamburg, Germany at Flora

16.06 - Copenhagen, Denmark at Stengade

17.06 - Berlin, Germany at Cassiopeia

18.06 - Leipzig, Germany at Zoro

19.06 - Praha, Czech Republic at 007 Club

20.06 - Wien, Austria at Arena

21.06 - Koper, Slovenia at Pandamonium

22.06 - Milano, Italy at Dauntaun / Leocavallo

23.06 - Bologna, Italy at XM24

24.06 - Stuttgart, Germany at JH West

25.06 - Versmold, Germany at Cry Me a River Fest

26.06 - Mülheim, Germany at AZ Mülheim

27.06 - Utrecht, Netherlands at dB's CAB-Rondom 100

28.06 - Kortrijk, Belgium at Cinepalace

29.06 - Portiers, France at Le Confort Moderne

30.06 - Paris, France at La Miroiterie

01.07 - London, England

02.07 - Nottingham, England at Stuck on a Name Studios

Full tour details at:

http://noladiy.org/thou

http://www.myspace.com/molochscum

Thou/Moloch 12" & Other Releases Back in Stock

2011-05-01T13:22:00.005-06:00

For those who may have missed out on copies of the THOU / MOLOCH Tears That Soak A Callous Heart Split 12" (clear vinyl), the first pressing of KOWLOON WALLED CITY's Gambling on the Richter Scale LP (clear vinyl w/ CD), or color copies of the ANCIENT SKY and THE CATALYST Swallow Your Teeth LPs, I just got a box of the remaining copies of these color versions shipped out from storage back in Virginia. Only a few copies of each are available and I've added what I have to the online store for ordering.

Also, somewhat related - I'm doing a small repress of the Thou / Moloch split cassette, which should be out in time for their June European tour. More details TBA.

Get Rad 7" Now Shipping!

2011-04-12T09:28:00.004-06:00

The GET RAD Choose Your Own Adventure 7" (PMM033) is finally finished and will start shipping this week. They came out great! The colored vinyl copies have an extra layer of ink applied to the cover as well as colored paper for the booklets which match the vinyl color (blue, green, pink, purple). Plain brown chipboard covers come with the black/grey vinyl. Not shown in the pic, but these come with an awesome 8-page CYOA-style illustrated story/lyric booklet stapled inside the cover. Only $4 plus shipping.

At the the time of pre-orders I didn't offer the ability to pick a color, so those who pre-ordered will receive the most limited color available. Blue and green copies are sold out though there's still plenty of pink and purple left.

Distros/stores should be able to get them soon from Ebullition. Or get in touch for possible trades.

Order your copy now!
Stream the full EP here!

GET RAD 7" Preorders

2011-02-22T14:26:00.002-07:00

We're now taking pre-orders for the upcoming 7" EP from Milwaukee, Wisconsin's GET RAD, entitled Choose Your Own Adventure. This new 7" follows up last year's I Can Always Live LP (Gilead Media/Hyperrealist) with five amazingly catchy new tracks of fast, energetic and abrasive hardcore from members of Herds, High on Crime, Seven Days of Samsara, Since By Man, etc. This is being released in collaboration with Get Rad and Halo of Flies Records.

The 7" is limited to 500 copies, with 376 on a black/dark grey vinyl and 124 on various colors of vinyl. It will come packaged in a silkscreened chipboard cover (preview mockup above) and an 8 page Choose Your Own Adventure-styled booklet with illustrations by Matt Gauck.

The vinyl is already pressed so we're just waiting on the packaging which should be finished shortly. Pre-orders get first dibs on the limited colored vinyl. We're hoping to start shipping these in early March.

Pre-order now at:
http://theperpetualmotionmachine.bigcartel.com

Preview a song from the record and other Get Rad songs at:
http://getrad.bandcamp.com/

CTTS working on a new record

2011-02-19T13:23:00.005-07:00

While we're revisiting timewarp-ville, I thought I'd also mention that I recently touched base with my old homies in Circle Takes The Square. They have started work on a new album (which they're blogging about here), the follow-up to 2003's As the Roots Undo. I'm looking forward to hearing this new one, whenever it comes out. I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

(Photo credit: Sarah Tharpe)

pg.99 to reunite

2011-02-19T12:52:00.005-07:00

As I'm sure you've heard, the awesome Pg.99 (whom were part of my very first release, the split 7" with Circle Takes The Square back in 2002) will be reuniting for a performance at this year's Best Friends Day in my old home of Richmond, Virginia. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it as I'll be festing it up and wearing my tattered, hole-ridden pg.99 shirt in their honor at totally awesome Wantage USA Total Fest X which I'm helping to organize out here. We may not have pg.99 but at least we've got clean water! Zing. Take that, friends! I am however looking forward to seeing those guys here in April when Pygmy Lush plays Missoula.

More news on their reunion here. And here's a great video of their last last show (which I also missed, sadly, while on tour with my old band in summer 2003):

pg99 - Final Show - The Whole Thing

Pageninetynine | Myspace Music Videos

2011 Plans...

2010-12-21T19:42:00.007-07:00

It's been a long time since a label update, but now that I've got a job and am finally settled in here in Montana, I've got a few newsworthy bits on upcoming releases for 2011.

First, things are back on track with the three THOU cassettes that were supposed to come out this past summer. As soon as we've got artwork details hammered out, we'll get started on production for a limited run of stand-alone cassettes for their three albums, Tyrant, Peasant and Summit (the latter of which will be co-released with Gilead Media/Broadcloak). If you haven't done so already, make sure to check out Summit which was released this summer by Gilead on cd and more recently on vinyl by Southern Lord. More news on the tapes soon.

Second, I'm excited to announce that I'll be doing a new 7" EP for GET RAD from Milwaukee, WI, entitled Choose Your Own Adventure. This will be released in collaboration with the excellent Halo of Flies Records, also based in Milwaukee. This is being sent off for mastering and pressing soon and if all goes well, it should be out in early 2011. More news on this one soon. Get stoked.

-Paul

Above: Get Rad. Photo by Nicole.

New Town, New Releases, KWC Tour

2010-09-07T17:52:00.014-06:00

Well, we safely made it across country and are now living in Missoula, Montana. The past few weeks have been spent getting settled into a new apartment, meeting some great new folks, going tubing and catching a bunch of sweet bands at Wantage Total Fest (come out for it next year!) and just enjoying this amazing town and all of it’s wild surroundings. It’s beautiful country out here for sure!

Getting things back on track with the label, I've got a bunch of Kowloon Walled City related updates. Last week I received the second pressing of their Gambling on the Richter Scale LP, as well the silkscreened jackets for the new limited CD version of the album, so both of those are ready to ship. The LP repress is available on silver vinyl (limited to 300) and good old black vinyl (limited to 200), and comes packaged in matte reverse board jackets, and this time around we left out the CD to make it a bit cheaper, although it can be downloaded for free on their website here. The new limited stand-alone CD version is limited to just 250 copies and comes packaged in a two-color professionally silkscreened Arigato Pak jacket with an insert. See the bottom of the post for some pictures of both, which can now be ordered in the newly restored PMM online store. I'll be adding several new distro items and other goodies in the coming weeks, so look out!

The band is gearing up for their long awaited east coast tour later this month (dates below) and in preparation, they’ve dropped two other releases- Lose Lose Lose, a three-way split 12" with fellow noise-rock/post-hardcore outfits Fight Amp and Ladder Devils on Brutal Panda (which you can download for free here), and a repress of their now classic Turk Street 10”, courtesy of Feast of Tentacles and Bryan from Thou’s new label, Howling Mine Records. Definitely make sure to check those out.

Kowloon Walled City & Batillus East Coast Tour:

Sat 9/18 NYC - Cake Shop w/ Riff Cannon (early show)

Sun 9/19 Boston, MA - Great Scott w/ Disappearer, Riff Cannon

Mon 9/20 Providence, RI - AS220 w/ Tongue Dynasty, Witch King

Tue 9/21 Baltimore, MD - Hexagon w/ Salome, Oak

Wed 9/22 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks

Thu 9/23 Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light w/ New Brutalism

Fri 9/24 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum - Forward to the Apocalypse Fest

Sat 9/25 New Orleans, LA - Koenji House (2608 Magazine @ 3rd) w/ Thou

Sun 9/26 Baton Rouge, LA - Rachel Haus w/ Thou

Mon 9/27 Birmingham, AL - Magic City Wholesale w/ Black Hole Kids

Tue 9/28 Raleigh, NC - Divebar Raleigh w/ Machete! (free!)

Wed 9/29 Chapel Hill, NC - The Reservoir w/ Machete! (free!)

Thu 9/30 Richmond, VA - Strange Matter w/ Lord By Fire

Fri 10/1 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie w/ Fight Amp, Ladder Devils

Sat 10/2 Brooklyn, NY - The Acheron w/ Liturgy

I think that's it for now, but I’ll have some updates on upcoming new releases in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!

- Paul / PMM

PMM is moving.

2010-07-15T11:40:00.005-06:00

Sooo, at the end of July I'm leaving old Richmond, Virginia on a cross-country move to Missoula, Montana. This has been a long time coming and only recently did I decide to go forward with it. I'll be going out with my wonderful girlfriend, our little dog, a handful of personal possessions, and some bits and pieces of the label. PMM will continue out there, but will most likely be scaled down a bit, at least for the foreseeable future.

In an attempt to make the move a bit easier on us and my car's suspension, I'm doing a big sale on most of the PMM releases now through July 25, after which I will be taking down the store for a few weeks. Additionally, I've put up a 20% off coupon for all orders. Just type in JULY20 during checkout. Big orders will get free stuff. Bigger orders will get copies of just about everything extra I've got lying around (that will fit into the mailer). Take advantage of the sale here.

The next few months will see lots of touring as well as a few little releases: a repress of Kowloon Walled City's "Gambling on the Richter Scale" LP (co-released with Feast of Tentacles from England) as well as a limited run CD version of that one, and, limited run cassette versions of Thou's "Tyrant" and "Peasant" in some sort of hand-printed packaging. Kowloon Walled City will be touring the east coast for two weeks in September and October with Batillus from NYC. Dates and details for that are materializing here. The Catalyst will be doing a US tour in October. Ancient Sky will be doing a European tour in October. Thou will be doing a lot of little weekends and shows this fall, including a few with KWC/Batillus. Busy times.

More news on all of these things after the move. And maybe some pictures from the road too. Until then, consider picking up some of the releases at some heavily discounted prices. Thanks for the support.

-Paul / PMM

Thou / Moloch 12" Photos

2010-06-26T11:02:00.007-06:00

I received my copies of the Thou / Moloch "Tears That Soak A Callous Heart" Split 12" earlier this week and all pre-orders for that have now shipped. Thanks again to everyone that pre-ordered this amazing release.

I've still got copies of the 12" and cassette available for mailorder through the PMM store, though those able to see the bands on their current US tour can pick up copies direct from the bands. If in Europe, please order from Feast of Tentacles.

Here are some photos of the vinyl and packaging:

Thou / Moloch Split pre-order update

2010-06-18T14:16:00.007-06:00

I want to thank everyone that pre-ordered the THOU / MOLOCH "Tears That Soak A Callous Heart" Split 12" and cassette. The cassettes are finished and cassette-only orders shipped out this week. It came out great, with letterpress-printed covers, an insert, and a nice silkscreened patch. I've got less than 10 copies left for mailorder, so if you won't be seeing these guys on tour, you can order it here.

The vinyl is scheduled to arrive here on Monday, June 21, and I hope to start shipping out pre-orders on Tuesday. The response for this has awesome so far, and I've only got 10 copies left of the pre-order special with a free screen-printed poster, which can be ordered here.

Thanks again to everyone for their patience and support of this awesome release. It will be well worth the wait!

Thou / Moloch 12" & Cassette Available for Pre-order

2010-06-02T10:25:00.003-06:00

THOU/MOLOCH "Tears That Soak A Callous Heart"

Now available for preorder, the long-awaited pairing of Baton Rouge, Louisiana's THOU with Nottingham, UK's MOLOCH, will be out on 12" and cassette in late June on The Perpetual Motion Machine (US) and Feast of Tentacles (UK). On this monstrous split release, Thou offer up two epic new songs of crushing sludge/doom with hints of melody while Moloch drop three down-trodden new songs of heavy, hateful sludge.

The 12" will be packaged in reverse printed, black and white jackets and heavyweight printed inner jackets, with all copies on clear vinyl, limited to 1000. The cassettes are pro-pressed with black ink on white shells and come packaged with letterpress-printed j-cards, a lyric sheet and a silkscreened patch, limited to 300.

For the pre-order, we have also created a limited run of 12"x19" silkscreened posters that will be included with the first 100 orders from each label (limit one poster per person) and will be available in limited quantities from the bands on tour. Thanks to Adam @ Gilead Media for the printing help!

I hope to have my copies assembled and ready to ship around June 18. It will be in stores and distros shortly after. The bands will have tapes shortly and should have vinyl starting around the second week of their June/July US tour (see dates below).

Pre-order now
http://theperpetualmotionmachine.bigcartel.com/

For those in Europe/UK, please order from Feast of Tentacles.

THOU/MOLOCH
June/July US tour dates
Full details at http://www.noladiy.org/thou

06.10 - Tulsa, Oklahoma
06.11 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
06.12 - Tempe, Arizona (matinee)
06.12 - San Diego, California
06.13 - Tijuana, Mexico
06.14 - Los Angeles, California (matinee)
06.14 - Los Angeles, California
06.15 - Los Angeles, California (matinee)
06.15 - Los Angeles, California
06.16 - Santa Barbara, California
06.17 - San Luis Obispo, California (matinee)
06.17 - Santa Cruz, California
06.18 - Los Altos Hills, California (matinee)
06.18 - San Francisco, California
06.19 - Oakland, California
06.20 - Berkeley, California (matinee)
06.21 - Santa Rosa, California
06.22 - Eureka, California
06.23 - Salem, Oregon
06.24 - Portland, Oregon
06.24 - Portland, Oregon (matinee)
06.25 - Olympia, Washington
06.26 - Seattle, Washington
06.27 - Missoula, Montana
06.28 - Fargo, North Dakota
06.29 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
06.30 - Omaha, Nebraska
07.01 - Columbia, Missouri
07.02 - New Orleans, Louisiana
07.03 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Catalyst Head to Europe

2010-04-27T11:15:00.006-06:00

Barely escaping the devestating clutches of world-end volcanic debris, The Catalyst head over the pond this week for a European tour from April 29 - May 30. US dates are in the works for this summer and will be announced on their return. Their first full length, Swallow Your Teeth, was released on PMM and Sons of Vesta Records last year.

European Dates:
04/29 forlì, IT - circolo arci valverde
04/30 fano, IT - boomker
05/01 arezzo , IT - habitat skatepark
05/02 lodi, IT - dumb skatepark
05/03 montpellier, FR - baloard
05/04 toulouse, FR - les pavillons sauvages
05/05 st feliu de codines, SP - la fonteta
05/06 SPAIN HELP
05/07 gijon, SP - club bola 8
05/08 corunha, SP - c.s.o. casa das atochas
05/09 torrelavega, SP - la tortuga pub
05/10 madrid, SP - wurlitzer ballroom
05/11 montaigu, FR - la floride
05/12 caen , FR - bar laplace
05/13 la louviere , BE - taverne du theatre
05/14 utrecht, NE - acu
05/15 groningen, NE - vera-downstage
05/16 strasbourg, FR - molodoi
05/17 GERMANY HELP
05/18 leipzig, GE - atari
05/19 wuerzburg, GE - cairo j.k.h.
05/20 giessen , GE - ak44
05/21 berlin, GE - schokoladen
05/22 wroclaw , PO - crk
05/23 prague , CZ - klubovna povalec
05/24 slavonice, CZ - baràk
05/25 wien, AU - arena
05/26 graz, AU - sub
05/27 bologna, IT - atlantide
05/28 pisa, IT - la centrale
05/29 perugia, IT - c.s.a. mattatoio
05/30 roma, IT - sinister noise

Order Swallow Your Teeth from the PMM Online Store

Thou & Moloch Releases Announced

2010-04-23T08:43:00.003-06:00

I am proud to announce that Perpetual Motion Machine is collaborating with Baton Rouge, Louisiana's THOU on four upcoming releases, currently in the works for early summer release. PMM will be releasing their split with MOLOCH, from Nottingham, England, on 12" vinyl and cassette formats (both co-released with Feast of Tentacles Records), as well as deluxe packaged cassette versions of their albums "Tyrant" and "Peasant".

All of these are in various stages of production and should be available in early June. Thou and Moloch will be doing a US tour in June and July in support of these releases and several others.

Additional details and preorder information to be announced in the coming weeks.

Links:
Thou
Moloch

(Photo: Thou at Scion Fest, March 2010, taken by Christopher Mumma)

Recent press for KWC and LftW...

2010-03-31T09:43:00.007-06:00

Kowloon Walled City are featured in the March issue of Alarm Magazine. Here's a scan of their write-up/review:

And a little while back, Outburn Magazine featured some nice reviews of KWC and Litany for the Whale:

Teeth of the Divine also had some nice things to say about LftW in a recent review:

"Here’s a cool little 7 track EP from a new California act who mange to meld dark, pummeling hardcore, crust and post rock into a solid release that bodes well for the future, even in relatively crowded scene. Definitely recommended for fans on Converge due to some blistering chaos, underlined with some subtle and metallic harmonies, Litany For the Whale will also appeal to fans of Gaza, Cursed, Harlots and such with their addition of crumbling atmospherics and instrumental sections amid the gritty metallic spurts." - Teeth of the Divine

Also worth checking out... Scott Evans from KWC did a massive interview with Kurt Ballou on God City Studio for the new issue of Tape Op.

SNAILFACE

2010-03-16T12:51:00.002-06:00

The weirdos in Kowloon Walled City just completed work on a second album for their sci-fi inspired, riff-ladden alter ego SNAILFACE and have put it up for free download here. A limited double cassette featuring this and their first album will be out on PMM later this spring.

Track listing:
1. Yowie Wants a Piece
2. The Almasty (Kelermes Mirror)
3. The Mandate of Himalayan Blood I
4. Wild Woman of the Navidad: The Thing That Comes
5. Momo, the Missouri Monster
6. The Mandate of Himalayan Blood II
7. The Boy Named Jerry (Jerry Boy)
8. Fishy Man-Goat Terrifies Couples Parked at Lake Worth / Mogollon
9. The Mandate of Himalayan Blood III
10. Triangle Visage of the Hibagon / Skunk Ape

Download at:
http://wordclock.com/snailface

The end of another year.

2010-01-06T19:38:00.008-07:00

I just finished packing a pile of mailorders and thought I’d give an update on the label and it's seventh year in 2009. It was a crazy ass year for me and the one-man Perpetual Motion Machine. Definitely the busiest, most insane year of the label yet, with a pile of new releases from the likes of old and new friends Kowloon Walled City, The Catalyst, Litany For The Whale, and Ancient Sky. All of this kept me busy to no end and on my toes throughout the year. I couldn’t have made it without everyone that supported the label. So thanks to those who ordered records and supported the bands on the road, the amazing writers, bloggers and twitter-ers, distros and stores, and everyone else who gave a damn about the bands and their releases.

Kowloon Walled City’s debut full length, Gambling on the Richter Scale, came out in late September on 12” vinyl with cd included and was also made available for free digital download. The response for this has been really astounding and the first pressing is running low, so pick it up if you haven’t yet. So far it’s received a great response from the press as well, with solid reviews from Decibel, Metal Hammer, Rocksound, Lambgoat, Aquarius Records, and many others. The band is playing a few California shows in January with Fight Amp and is starting to make plans for a more extensive tour later in the spring. Check out the PMM store for copies of the 12"+CD, their first EP and some shirts.

The Catalyst’s first full length, Swallow Your Teeth came out on LP and CD in August, and I’m down to my last couple copies of the limited color versions of the LP. They did a short tour with LftW this fall, including what I hear was a pretty bad ass show at The Fest, and have been playing a lot of pretty rad shows around Richmond these past few months. They are gearing up for their second trip to Europe, which will take place in April-May 2010. More details on that over here.

Litany for the Whale recently returned home from their first US tour and having been playing a bunch of shows around the Bay Area this winter, while working on new songs for a couple future releases. Their debut 12” EP, Dolores, is still available from PMM and Molsook, though our limited color versions for mailorder are running low. The cd version came out in September on Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records and the release has been picking up a good amount of well-deserved praise from places like Decibel, Outburn, Rocksound and several others.

Ancient Sky are playing a slew of shows in January and February after a bit of a hiatus, though guitarist/singer Brian Markham recently returned from a European tour with his quieter two-piece project Timber Rattle. If you haven’t done so yet, check out their debut LP, available for order here.

I don't have any solid release plans for 2010 yet, but will have an update on that in the near future. In the meantime, I'm taking a breather from this crazy past year of releases. Keep your eye on the online store for several new distro items and imports in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading and thanks for the support.

-Paul / The Perpetual Motion Machine

(Photo: Litany for the Whale, 11.10.09 Mass Art, Boston, MA Photo by Reid Haithcock)

Kowloon Walled City "Gambling on the Richter Scale" Out Now

2009-09-28T21:29:00.006-06:00

The Perpetual Motion Machine is proud to announce the release of the debut full length from San Francisco-based sludge/noise-rock outfit Kowloon Walled City, entitled "Gambling on the Richter Scale," which is finally OUT NOW on vinyl LP + CD.

It is available for order in the PMM store and a free download of the entire album is available here.

Working on this release has been a hell of ride so far, and I couldn't be more stoked on working with this solid bunch of hardworking, talented, patient, social networking, ever enthusiastic dudes. I'm mighty proud of the album and all the work they've put into it and I hope people check out the release. This is bound to be one of the most bad-ass heavy releases this year, at least for me, giving all the heavy metal superstars a goddamn run for their money.

I want to thank everyone who pre-ordered and helped us get this thing underway. Your support was undeniably vital to the label and the release with this crazy summer of releases. I've been working non-stop over the past week, packing and shipping orders and shirts, so if you already pre-ordered, your record/cd/shirt is in the mail. If you haven't definitely consider picking it up, you won't be disappointed.

And if you live on left of coasts, venture out to see them play some pretty rad shows over the next two months:

10/1 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge w/ Kylesa, Saviours, Bison B.C.
10/8 Chico, CA @ Cafe Coda w/ Prize Country, The Makai, La Fin du Monde
10/9 Eugene, OR @ Oak St. Speakeasy w/ Last Empire, Lucika
10/10 Portland, OR @ The Know w/ Book of Belial, Elitist, Ritual Necromancy
10/23 San Francisco, CA @ Annie's Social Club w/ Madraso, Lucika
11/17 San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout w/ City Of Ships
11/18 Santa Rosa, CA @ TBA w/ Litany For The Whale

Download the entire album for free here
Order the LP+CD from the PMM Store

Kowloon Walled City LP+CD Ready to ship!

2009-09-20T14:42:00.005-06:00

Everything for the Kowloon Walled City "Gambling on the Richter Scale" LP+CD is finished and ready to ship! I've been busy packing orders all weekend and will start shipping them out tomorrow. The preorder response for this release has been unbelievable and kind of overwhelming, so it will take me a couple days to get everything shipped out, but fear not, it will be worth the wait. So thanks so much to everyone that preordered this!

For those that haven't checked it out, I encourage you to do so. This is one of the best heavy records I've heard in quite some time and a solid, pissed off, noisy, pummeling listen from start to finish. We'll be putting up a free download of the album soon for the non-believers.

Stores and distros will be able to get copies next week from Revolver and Ebullition.

Upcoming KWC shows:
10/1 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge w/ Kylesa, Saviours, Bison B.C.
10/8 Chico, CA @ Cafe Coda w/ Prize Country, The Makai, La Fin du Monde
10/9 Eugene, OR @ Oak St. Speakeasy w/ Last Empire, Lucika
10/23 San Francisco, CA @ Annie's Social Club w/ Madraso, Lucika
11/17 San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout w/ City Of Ships
11/18 Santa Rosa, CA @ TBA w/ Litany For The Whale

Order LP+CD from The Perpetual Motion Machine
Preview 2 songs on KWC's website

Kowloon Walled City LP Update

2009-09-08T09:53:00.006-06:00

Kowloon Walled City kept themselves busy this weekend screen-printing 500 cd sleeves to be included with their upcoming LP. These will enclose the cd and will be inserted in the LP jackets.

If you haven't had a chance to pre-order the shirt package and want one, I suggest doing so now, as I will be ordering shirts in the next day or two. Everything will be shipping from the plant shortly and I hope to start shipping orders around September 21.

Pre-order the LP+CD
Pre-order the LP+CD with Shirt
Stream songs from the album

Kowloon Walled City "Gambling on the Richter Scale" LP+CD Preorders

2009-08-27T13:44:00.007-06:00

I'm now taking preorders for the upcoming KOWLOON WALLED CITY full length LP+CD, entitled Gambling on the Richter Scale, which is due out September 29 on The Perpetual Motion Machine.

On Gambling on the Richter Scale, their first full-length, San Francisco's KOWLOON WALLED CITY add a touch of finesse to the grinding pummel introduced on last year’s Turk Street EP, which drew comparisons to Neurosis, The Melvins and other low-end explorers, from the ‘90s AmRep roster to the current crop of sludgecore contenders. Their eight song full length was recorded in April-May 2009 by guitarist Scott Evans and mastered by Greg Thompson.

Limited to 500 copies, the LP is available in two color variations, clear (limited to 300) and black/silver mix (limited to 200). All copies come packaged in heavy, full color jackets and include a CD version, packaged in a separate silkscreened sleeve.

As with the last couple PMM preorders, I'm doing a run of limited edition shirts to accompany preorders. The shirt design, which features an image of earthquake thrust planes will come with white ink printed on charcoal grey, ultra-comfy cotton Next Level shirts (comparable to American Apparel shirts). I've also got a few copies of their Turk Street 10" EP in the store, so make sure to grab one if you don't have it (you can download it for free here). Preorders will begin shipping in late September.

Preorder Kowloon Walled City LP+CD here
Preorder Kowloon Walled City LP+CD and Shirt here
Stream 2 songs from the album here

The Catalyst Album Stream & Kowloon Walled City LP Preview

2009-08-04T09:59:00.008-06:00

ScenePointBlank.com have been kind enough to host an exclusive full album stream of The Catalyst's new LP/CD, "Swallow Your Teeth" which came out yesterday. They are also offering a giveaway contest with the chance to win copies of PMM's three new vinyl releases.

Stream The Catalyst's "Swallow Your Teeth" here
Enter giveaway contest here
Order here

Also, some other good news! San Francisco's Kowloon Walled City have finished artwork and mastering for their upcoming beast of an album, "Gambling On The Richter Scale," which is due out September 29th on The Perpetual Motion Machine. They have just posted a streaming audio player with two tracks from the upcoming LP+CD on their website.

Stream 2 tracks from "Gambling On The Richter Scale" here

Ancient Sky LPs and The Catalyst LPs are here!

2009-07-31T08:51:00.005-06:00

The vinyl for THE CATALYST "Swallow Your Teeth" LP and ANCIENT SKY "s/t LP has arrived from the plant and boy did they turned out amazing! If you pre-ordered, your order will be shipping out in the next couple days. If not, please do your self a favor and head over to the PMM Online Store to grab some copies. I've still got copies of all of the color variations and a few t-shirt packages still available for order, though they won't last long. Both of these will be in stores this coming Monday, August 3rd and are available from the bands on their tours this month (see dates to the right).

And here's the pressing details again:

The Catalyst "Swallow Your Teeth" LP:
300 Bloody Mary Red / Black Mix
300 Grimace Purple
400 Black
Comes packaged in a full color jacket with full color printed inner sleeve.

Ancient Sky "s/t" LP:
300 White
300 Clear/Pink Mix
400 Black
Comes packages in a full color jacket with b&w printed inner sleeve.

Order now from The Perpetual Motion Machine
Stream Ancient Sky's album for free here

The Catalyst "Swallow Your Teeth" LP/CD & Ancient Sky "s/t" LP Out August 3rd, Now Available for Preorder

2009-07-12T08:59:00.006-06:00

THE CATALYST "Swallow Your Teeth" LP/CD/SHIRTS Now Available for Preorder

After nearly seven years and numerous mind-bending demos, eps and splits, and a litany of tours criss-crossing the United States and Europe, Richmond, Virginia’s best kept secret THE CATALYST offer up their first full length album, "Swallow Your Teeth", a noisy, mathy, spacey, heavy, feedback-soaked behemoth of sonic destruction. Still channeling a wide range of hardcore, punk, grunge, noise rock, and sludge influences and not afraid to show their love for NIRVANA, FUGAZI, SONIC YOUTH, THE JESUS LIZARD, BORN AGAINST and most of the AMPHETAMINE REPTILE back catalog, "Swallow Your Teeth" displays the band’s creative prowess and power fully matured and realized.

Swallow Your Teeth was recorded and mixed in May 2009 by Steve Roche (Off Minor) and mastered by Carl Saff (Young Widows). Painter and friend Raymond Klecker, who did the artwork for the band’s Marianas Trench EP, created cover artwork for the album.

Tracklisting:
1. I Hate The Future (3:36)
2. Lars Ulrich's 1986 Funeral (2:18)
3. Assholier Than Thou (2:31)
4. Incidental Music (2:02)
5. Small Town Big Mouth (2:13)
6. Werewolves of Washington (6:40)
7. Japanese Maple (2:37)
8. Sterling is a Hole (2:41)
9. 42012 (4:40)
10. Too Big To Fail (3:19)
11. A Goodbye From The Catalyst, You Dog (5:33)

The CD/LP will be in stores August 3rd, but is now available for preorder. The LP comes packaged in a full color jacket with a full color inner sleeve and is available for order on three colorways:

300 Grimace Purple
300 Bloody Mary Red / Black Mix
400 Black

A t-shirt is being created exclusively for the preorder, with white ink printed on black Gildan Ultra Cotton shirts. Artwork for the shirt was created by upstart Richmond artist Eliza Childress.

This is a preorder, so they won't be shipped until the records/cds return from the plant in late July. If ordering other items, please note that everything will be shipped together when the records/cds are here. This is a split release with Sons of Vesta Records in Italy, so if you life in Europe please order from them.

PRE-ORDER NOW from The Perpetual Motion Machine
Preview tracks from the album on the band's myspace page

ANCIENT SKY "s/t" LP/SHIRTS Now Available for Preorder!

This is the first official release for Brooklyn-based, Virginia-natives ANCIENT SKY. Consisting of two pairs of close childhood friends with intertwining musical pasts, the group features current and former members of DARKEST HOUR, CITY OF CATERPILLAR, MAJORITY RULE, GHASTLY CITY SLEEP, VERSE EN COMA and YOU ARE THE DRUM, though they tread very different waters with ANCIENT SKY.

Largely influenced by classic psychedelic rock, the band isn't afraid to visit bizarre and far-out worlds with unique sounds and structures that walk the line between fierce and subtle, and occasionally flirt with epic-ness, making for an interesting mix of heavy, hypnotic rock with plenty of hooks and Americana subtleties. This 7-song collection of songs was laid to tape at Brooklyn's Seaside Lounge Studios in March 2009 with producer/engineer Mike Kutchman at the helm and was mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering.

Tracklisting:
1. Guilt Is Universal (6:35)
2. Another Woman (6:43)
3. Full Light (6:40)
4. Away Not Home (5:24)
5. True Patron (4:07)
6. Temporary Resident (5:11)
7. Sink Back (5:43)

The record comes packaged in a full color jacket with a printed inner sleeve and full color labels with artwork by Garek Druss. There are 3 colorways available for order:

300 White
300 Clear w/ Pink Haze
400 Black

A special t-shirt is being created exclusively for the pre-order with artwork from the album cover, created by Garek Druss. These will come with brown ink printed on grey Gildan Ultra Cotton shirts.

This is a preorder, so they won't be shipped until the records return from the plant in late July. If ordering other items, please note that everything will be shipped together when the records are here. This is a split release with Sons of Vesta Records in Italy, so if you life in Europe please order from them.

PRE-ORDER NOW from The Perpetual Motion Machine
Preview tracks from the album on the band's myspace page

Thanks for reading.
-Paul / The Perpetual Motion Machine

Litany For The Whale 12"s are here!

2009-07-10T10:04:00.004-06:00

The LITANY FOR THE WHALE "Dolores" 12" (PMM025) is finished and preorders started shipping this week. The vinyl came out amazing, with copies on white vinyl, coke bottle blue w/ black haze, and translucent red w/ black haze and the jackets/inserts turned out great too. Thanks to everyone that preordered! These are still available for order in the PMM Store and will be in stores/distros starting on Monday, July 13.

The band is now streaming a second track from the record on their myspace page and have posted preliminary routing for their October/November US tour, which includes a stop at Gainesville, FL's THE FEST 8. Don't miss these dudes!

Order now from THE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE

LITANY FOR THE WHALE Dolores 12" Available for Preorder!

2009-06-17T07:19:00.005-06:00

I am proud and excited to say that LITANY FOR THE WHALE's Dolores 12" EP is now up in the PMM Store for preorder!

For a limited time, The Perpetual Motion Machine and MolSook are offering a special package deal during preorder season of Litany for the Whale's Dolores. The record comes out on July 13th, but if you order from either of us before then, you can get the white vinyl, along with both exclusive label colors for $30. After the record is out, the Red w/Black Haze will only be available seperately from PMM, as will be the Coke Bottle Blue w/ Black Haze from MolSook. Orders will begin shipping in early July.

On their debut EP, this four-piece exploit a gruffer take on heavy music, surrounding it with wailing feedback, darkened ambiance, and harmonious melodies. The end result is a chaotic and complex mix of hardcore, punk and metal elements, soaked with devastating levels of distortion, bass, and layered vocals. Their 23+ minute, 7-song EP was recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, CA by Eric Leavell, with mastering handled by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering in Chicago, IL. Pressed on white vinyl with limited variations on coke bottle clear w/ black haze from MolSook and translucent red w/ black haze from The Perpetual Motion Machine. The record will come packaged in heavy, black and white jackets with beautiful artwork created by Chris Taylor (Pg99, Pygmy Lush).

To order from The Perpetual Motion Machine, CLICK HERE.
Preview a song from the EP on the band's myspace page

Also, look for LFTW on their West Coast tour with Brooklyn's ¡APESHIT! starting this weekend!

June, 19 - Oakland, CA @ The Yellow Room w/ Dark Castle, Spires
June, 20 -Richmond, CA @ Burnt Ramen w/ John Cota, Calculator, Mystery Dope
June, 21 -Santa Rosa, CA @ Ol’ Dick’s House, 870 Third St. w/ Apeshit
June, 22-Chico, CA @ Under Western Eyes
June, 23-Portland, OR @ The Know w/ The Erns
June, 24 -Portland, OR @ The Neve Campbell w/ Kidcrash, Shat
June, 25 -Olympia, WA @ 1001 State Ave. w/ TBA
June, 26 -Seattle, WA @ Shebang House w/ Degania
June, 27- Bainbridge, WA @ Backyard Show

SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA & CITY OF SHIPS 12" Repressed

2009-06-16T11:08:00.005-06:00

I just finished repressing the excellent SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA / CITY OF SHIPS 12", which was issued early last year for a tour that the bands did together, but it has since sold out. With all the touring that City Of Ships are doing it made sense to keep this amazing record in print (and do it right this time, as it was a little rushed the first time around).

In my opinion, these are two of the more interesting underground bands running the gamut of post-hardcore, metal and experimental heavy music these days. SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA show a lot of growth since their Crucial Blast-released album An Ocean Without Water with two new dark instrumentals that meld heavy, doom-inspired soundscapes with a slow, western dirge. Florida natives and occasional Richmond residents, CITY OF SHIPS follow up their criminally under appreciated debut ep Live Free Or Don't with two more songs of effects-soaked, crunching, squealing, mathy, heavy rock.

This second pressing is limited to 175 copies, all on colored translucent marble vinyl; all are a bit different and unique from one another, though they've been lumped into three color ways. Packaged in two-color silkscreened covers with metallic gold ink and black ink on dark grey stock, inserts, free digital download card, a sealed poly bag and sticker on the front. Cover artwork by French artist, Arnaud Lounaeu.

Pressing information:
39 copies on translucent Dark Red marble
60 copies on translucent Black/Brown marble
76 copies on translucent Amber marble

ORDER NOW IN THE PMM STORE

For those in Europe, you can pick this up from CITY OF SHIPS, on tour from June 17 -August 2, sharing dates with Rosetta and Braveyoung. See dates on their Myspace page.

Update & sample tracks from upcoming releases!

2009-06-12T10:13:00.012-06:00

A quick update on the upcoming summer releases...

The LITANY FOR THE WHALE Dolores 12" test presses have been approved by the band and those should be back from the plant in a few weeks, with an official release date set for July 13. Look for preordering information on here next week with mailorder-only vinyl colors, package deals, and some other goodies! For those on the west coast, make sure to check out LFTW on tour June 19-27 with Brooklyn's APESHIT (see dates to the right).

THE CATALYST and ANCIENT SKY full lengths are being sent off for production this week and both should be back from the plant at the end of July just in time for the bands to hit the road in late July and August. Both releases are scheduled for an August 3rd release date.

KOWLOON WALLED CITY have finished mixing their LP, entitled "Gambling On The Richter Scale" and are in the mastering stages. We're hoping to send that off for pressing in a few weeks, with a late August or early September release date.

Finally, I just finished repressing the SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA & CITY OF SHIPS Split 12", released last year in a limited edition of 300. The second pressing is limited to 200 with three variations of colored vinyl, silkscreened covers, and download cards. I'll be putting these up for sale in the PMM store next week or you can pick it up from COS on their massive 10-week world tour which is currently underway (see dates on their myspace).

Head over the the PMM Myspace page below to stream some tracks from these upcoming summer releases!

http://www.myspace.com/theperpetualmotionmachine

Litany For The Whale "Dolores" EP coming soon!

2009-05-14T22:02:00.011-06:00

I'm unbelievably excited to announce that The Perpetual Motion Machine will be teaming up with Molsook Records to release the debut 12" EP from Santa Rosa, CA’s LITANY FOR THE WHALE. On their explosive debut release, Dolores, this four-piece exploit a gruffer take on heavy music, surrounding it with wailing feedback, darkened ambiance, and harmonious melodies. The end result is a chaotic and complex mix of hardcore, punk and metal elements, soaked with devastating levels of distortion, bass, and layered vocals.

Though relatively new, LFTW have more than proven themselves over the past year, logging several tours independently and alongside Pygmy Lush, Tideland, and Ghastly City Sleep. The band will hit the road again this summer, sharing west coast tours alongside iApeshit! and others, with plans for a full US tour in early fall 2009.

Their 23+ minute, 7-song EP was recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, CA by Eric Leavell, with mastering handled by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering in Chicago, IL.

Currently in production for an early summer release, "Dolores" will be pressed on white vinyl with limited color variations for mailorder on coke bottle clear w/ black haze from MolSook and translucent red w/ black haze from The Perpetual Motion Machine. The record will come packaged in heavy, black and white jackets with beautiful artwork created by Chris Taylor (Pg99, Pygmy Lush). A CD version is expected later in the summer on Boston, MA's Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records.

Ordering information will be posted in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out a song from the 12" on LFTW's myspace page below.

http://www.myspace.com/litanyforthewhale
http://www.theperpetualmotionmachine.com
http://www.molsookrecords.net

KWC in the press

2009-05-14T07:39:00.005-06:00

Kowloon Walled City have been gaining quite a bit of attention in the blogosphere lately. Here's a nice mention from earlier this week in San Francisco's East Bay Express, who have listed them as one of ten Bay Area bands to watch out for this summer:

It only took a three-song demo to get the online metal community gushing about Kowloon Walled City, and a couple more songs on its 2008 Turk Street EP to get the likes of Guitar World, Thrasher Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle to follow suit, and for Noise Pop to handpick them as the only heavy Bay Area band to play this year's festival. Yes, they're that good. Channeling the theme of urban decay, Kowloon Walled City (named after the Chinese enclave in British Hong Kong that became known for its squalid, anarchic conditions) balances mid-tempo, two-note sludge awesomeness with heady hardcore influences like Unsane and Cavity. Scott Evans' vocal-chord-ripped screaming nicely complements the drop-tuned guitar and fuzz-bass concrete wall, but the band's sound isn't so harsh or dirty as to confine them to a crusty scene. Expect a debut full-length later this summer, and world domination shortly thereafter. (K.R.)

See some other nice recent KWC write-ups at:
MetalSucks.net
NoiseCreep.com

Kowloon Walled City are currently in the studio, wrapping up their full length for release on PMM later this summer. Check out the PMM Online Store to order their debut Turk Street 10" EP.

The Catalyst announce details about upcoming full length

2009-04-20T14:20:00.001-06:00

The Catalyst have just announced some details on their upcoming full length, the long-awaited follow-up to last year's "Marianas Trench + 9" collection CD, for release on LP/CD on The Perpetual Motion Machine (US) and Sons of Vesta (Europe) later this summer.

After much debate, the band has settled on calling it "SWALLOW YOUR TEETH." Artwork will be done by Raymond Klecker, who did the cover for the "Marianas Trench" ep. The band will be recording May 8th-15th with Steve Roche (Off Minor) at Permanent Hearing Damage in Philadelphia. Probable tracklisting is as follows:

1) i hate the future
2) lars ulrich's 1986 funeral (it should have been you)
3) small town, big mouth
4) assholier than thou
5) werewolves of washington
6) japanese maple
7) sterling is a hole
8) ___________
9) too big to fail
10) four twenty twelve
11) a goodbye kiss from the catalyst, you dog

Additionally, the band has started booking a US tour for this summer from 7/23 - 8/21. They'll be going as far west as Austin, TX. To help book a show, please get in touch with the band.

Look for more details soon here and on their myspace at:
http://www.myspace.com/thecatalyst

Ancient Sky to release album on The Perpetual Motion Machine & Sons of Vesta

2009-04-09T12:52:00.012-06:00

I'm honored and proud to welcome Ancient Sky to the Perpetual Motion Machine family. This relatively new Brooklyn-based band features members of Majority Rule, Ghastly City Sleep, Darkest Hour, Verse En Coma, and You Are The Drum, among others.

The band just completed recording their debut seven song full length at the Seaside Lounge Studio in Brooklyn and are handing it off to Paul Gold (Fucked Up, Animal Collective) for mastering. Describing the band, friend and engineer Mike Kutchmen says "Largely influenced by classic psychedelic rock, the band isn't afraid to visit bizarre and far-out worlds with unique sounds and structures that walk the line between fierce and subtle, and occasionally flirt with epic-ness. Guitarist/vocalist Brian Markham's words are unapologetic, introspective and honest, adding an earthly icing to their spacey cake."

Ancient Sky's self-titled full length is set to be released on LP and CD this summer on The Perpetual Motion Machine in the US and on Sons of Vesta Records in Europe. The band will be touring the US in August with select shows around NY throughout the summer. Additional details and sample tracks to follow soon.

In the meantime, preview some tracks from the band's demo on their myspace page:
http://myspace.com/ancientskyband

Kowloon Walled City to release full length on The Perpetual Motion Machine

2009-04-07T14:26:00.005-06:00

On the heels of last year's well-received Turk Street 10"/CDEP, San Francisco's Kowloon Walled City will begin recording a full-length this week, for release on The Perpetual Motion Machine this summer.

Turk Street's downtuned, post-hardcore sludge garnered positive reviews in magazines like Thrasher and Terrorizer, along with plenty of blogosphere hype. For this follow-up, as of yet unnamed, the group will once again set up shop in their rehearsal space in San Francisco for a few weeks of recording. Ever the archivists, they'll be blogging the process at their website inthewalledcity.com. Expect a street date late this summer.

In the meantime, do yourself a favor and check out KWC's five song debut Turk Street, available for free download and purchase at:

http://inthewalledcity.com
http://myspace.com/kowloonwalledcity

The Catalyst reviewed in Skyscraper

2009-04-06T09:21:00.003-06:00

The Catalyst got a nice review of their "Marianas Trench+9" CD in the newest issue of Skyscraper, issue # 30:

The first song on the Marianas Trench EP, initially released back in 2007, is entitled “This Bike is a Gravity Bong,” a phrase which some readers may recognize from the Richmond, Virginia, band’s red-and-black stickers that have been plastered on so many amps and bikes around the country. A few weeks ago when I slept on their couch, I noticed that the gravity bong in their living room, which is utilized at any hour of the day by various members of the household, has that same sticker on it only it says “This Gravity Bong Is a Gravity Bong.” And in a way, that sums up The Catalyst’s sound. Although much heavier at times than a lot of what people think of as stoner rock, they still follow in the footsteps of pothead rockers such as Pantera and the Melvins. In addition, two of the songs seem to take cue from Fugazi, with Joe Lally-style bass lines and spazzy guitars which then turn into heavy riffs of power cords. Live, the band sports two drummers and a powerfully loud wall of sound. I would definitely recommend The Catalyst to anyone into the heavier, grungier, stonier side of music. For this remastered CD edition, songs from a pair of out-of-print splits have been compiled with the originally four-song Marianas Trench 12-inch EP, making this disc a pretty succinct introduction to this hard rockin’ punk band. (John Vogel)

New Blog & Online Store

2009-04-06T08:58:00.001-06:00

Long time with no updates. No worries. There's a lot going on with Perpetual Motion Machine and several projects in the works.

I've decided to switch over to a blog format for news and more frequent updates on the label and bands. I've also built a new web store. Check it out for a bunch of deals on older releases and some sweet new distro items.

Check in later this week for updates on new bands and upcoming releases for this summer!