March 26, 2008
THE CATALYST "Marianas Trench + 9" CD Out Now!
THE CATALYST's new cd "Marianas Trench + 9" is finished and is now available for order in the PMM Online Store. This 13 track disc compiles songs from their "Marianas Trench" 12" EP, their split 7" with Brainworms and the soon to be out-of-print split 12" with Mass Movement of the Moth. All songs have been remastered for this cd, courtesy of Carl Saff (Grails, Pygmy Lush). Stores and distros will be able to order this from Ebullition shortly. The band will be performing at Harrisonburg, Virginia's Macrock Conference on April 4, and are heading overseas for their first European tour from April 11-May 11 with Olympia, Wa's Kidcrash. Preview songs from release on their myspace page.
The Perpetual Motion Machine and friends at Macrock
Several PMM-related bands and friends will be playing at this year's Macrock Conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia the weekend of April 4-5, including THE CATALYST, CITY OF SHIPS, SNACKTRUCK, BRAINWORMS, BRANDON PECK (of Mouthbreather/Wow Owls) and others. PMM will also be there, selling our records at the label expo on Saturday, so come by and say hello. In the meantime head over to the Macrock website for a full ist of bands and registration information!
March 7, 2008 :
SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA & CITY OF SHIPS Split LP Out Now!
The SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA & CITY OF SHIPS split LP is finished and is now available for order in the online store. This first pressing is limited to 300 copies, all on 180 gram black vinyl with silkscreened covers. PMM's share of these for mailorder is limited so get your copy now, as these are going fast. This will soon be available in select stores and distros worldwide and from SYA and COS at shows on their joint tour, March 8-15. See tour dates and preview songs from the release on the SYA and COS myspace pages.
ANTLERS Cassette Available Now
Also available in the store are copies of the new cassette from ANTLERS. This is a cassette version of their amazing, self-titled debut LP released on Rorschach Records back in the fall. Limited to 100 copies, this comes on yellow, spraypaint-stenciled cassettes with photocopied covers and inserts. Super diy, super awesome! These are finished and ready to ship. I've also got some copies of the CD and LP versions from Rorschach Records available in the store. Preview tracks from the album on their myspace page.
Thats all for now. Thanks for reading. - Paul / The Perpetual Motion Machine
As always, stores and distros can order Perpetual Motion Machine releases from:
Ebullition
Dischord Direct
Out Now:
SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA & CITY OF SHIPS
180 Gram Split LP (PMM020)
This new split 12" features Richmond, Virginia's Souvenir's Young America and City of Ships. SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA follow up last year's critically acclaimed album, "An Ocean Without Water" (Crucial Blast 2007) with two shimmering new instrumentals of beautifully arranged western-doom, that will appeal to fans of Earth and Grails. Recent Richmond transplants, CITY OF SHIPS follow up their impressive debut ep, "Live Free Or Don't" (Forcefield 2007) with two stunning new tracks of sweeping heavy rock, both melodic and crushing, that while draws influence from heavyweights Cult of Luna, Hum, and Hoover, stands rooted in its own unique territory.
First pressing is limited to 300 copies, all on 180 gram black vinyl with two-color silkscreened and numbered covers with artwork by French artist, Arnaud Loumaeu.
Listen:
Souvenir's Young America on Myspace
City Of Ships on Myspace
THANK GOD & TIGERSHARK
Split 10" (PMM019)
This new split 10" features Richmond, Virginia's TIGERSHARK (ex-The Assistant, The Setup) and South Carolina maniacs THANK GOD (ex-Antischism, Guyana Punchline), with three new songs from each band. Limited to 495 copies on black vinyl, this comes packaged in beautiful, two-color hand-screened chipboard jackets with artwork by Ryan Mclennan. Released in collaboration with Molsook Records and Tick Tock Records.
THE CATALYST
Marianas Trench 12" EP (PMM018)
Richmond, Virginia's THE CATALYST follow up last year's split with Mass Movement of the Moth with four new blasts of grunge/stoner inspired mayhem on their new ep, 'Marianas Trench.' Limited to 700 copies, this one-sided 12" features colored vinyl (350 on clear, 350 on blue), a silkscreened B side and full color jackets. Recommended for fans of KARP, NIRVANA, MELVINS, PG.99, etc. Released in collaboration with No Signal Press.
"Killer one sided slab of crushing, heavy post hardcore stoner grunge screamo heaviness from these Richmond Virginia noisemakers. Grinding, pummeling, super distorted and angular post punk, but with some serious groove, and vocals that go from howled to screeched to crooned (well almost), killer riffs, filthy and heavy, pounding drums, mathy and chaotic, think Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Mudhoney, Halo Of Flies, the Melvins, lots of Amrep, some Sub Pop, and here and there, Nirvana at their noisiest and heaviest." - AQUARIUS RECORDS
"If you like your rock thick, dirty and noisy then The Catalyst should be able to give you exactly what you need. The Richmond-based rock band pack about everything they can muster into the four songs that make up Marianas Trench. The band’s own description of “stoner-noise-grunge hardcore” is surprisingly accurate. Practicing an almost refined sloppiness, the band attacks the listener. On the EP opener, the humorously titled “This Bike Is A Gravity Bong,” the band shows just how dynamic they can be as they dangerously flaunt with hints of melody. Admittedly, I am new to the band but the 7 minute instrumental, “Proceed With Caution,” sounds beautifully out of place. Feedback be damned, the song shows a trace of humanity in the band’s sonic mayhem. That is until the appropriately titled “Attention Deficit Distortion” kicks you back to the floor. Unleashing a heavy cacophony of noisy sound, The Catalyst’s brand of stick-to-your-guts rock is one that simply can not be denied." - SOUND AS LANGUAGE
"Marianas Trench squeals and peels in expert fashion with heavy, noisy, hardcore/rock and disgusting levels of distortion on everything, included the buried yet somewhat decipherable vocals. It's so ugly it's endearing. It's weird to say that the Catalyst sound more focused and sharp than they ever have with songs that are purely cacophonous, confusingly angry hardcore-reared blasts." - PUNKNEWS.ORG
Listen:
The Catalyst on Myspace
TULSA DRONE
Songs From A Mean Season CD (PMM016)
TULSA DRONE follow up their acclaimed 2004 debut "No Wake" with ten blistering new songs of sonic invention and emotional force. "Songs From A Mean Season" offers a volatile mix of bass hammered dulcimer, electric guitars, bass, and percussion with subtle brass, organs, vocals, and more. A soundtrack for a movie about trains, rivers, and lonely western nights. Produced by Scott Minor of Sparklehorse.
"Each song here is spacious, expansive, brooding, dreamy and lovely, with looping moody melodies, motorik rhythms, haunting harmonicas, wheezing out dusty distant textures, the drums simple but expressive, the guitar unfurling languid smokey melodies, lots of twang and shimmer, bit of Morricone for sure, the slower sultrier tracks sounding a bit like some Dirty Three post rock threnody, darkly dramatic, but with harmonica instead of violin. A few songs even feature vocals, but instead of mucking up a perfect instrumental record, they add another unique and gorgeously haunting element, the vocals, delivered in a deep Nick Cave like croon, wrapped in billowy reverb, only add to the mystery and moodiness of Tulsa Drone's windswept desert crawl. So good." - AQUARIUS RECORDS
"This group's rustic ramble follows familiar pathways and dusty trails like any number of instrumental outfits, but their sound is tinted with a solar energy rarely found elsewhere. Much of this is thanks to, again, guitar effects that add a shimmering, quavering quality to the chiming notes, but Tulsa Drone lean heavily on the underused dulcimer throughout the ten tracks that make up Songs From a Mean Season. It provides the disc with a wonderfully loose and exotic texture, not necessarily evocative of a planetarium's light show, but more in line with the cavernous echo associated with sci-fi's huge, desolate space freighters. Of course, the band doesn't simply plod along on its relative innovation, but keeps things lively as on "Risk Guitar" which could be The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" force-fed through a reaper and bound together as a dusky campfire ode, or the slow, fuzzy three chord psychedelica of "Huntsman." - INK19
"Beginning with the powerful and epic “Monongahela”, Tulsa Drone change gears throughout, giving it a healthy amount of flow. From there, things settle into a cinematic Western feel with “Risk Guitar”—with the risk definitely reaping great returns. The band reaches their stride perfectly on the slow-building but alluring and haunting “We’ll Take Oregon Hill” which sounds like it would fit perfect on a mix tape between The Handsome Family and The National. However, perhaps the highlight or gem on the entire album is “Huntsman” which has a hook that sears into one’s mind instantly. Moody is another apt way to describe this album, with the murky, winding “The Catch” drawing you in the way The Cure would with any of their lengthy, legendary numbers. The fact that it concludes with some jazz sprinklings only adds to its luster. Falling short of this level but not bad is the unnerving “Mean Season” yet “Brace” is sheer beauty." -POP MATTERS
"It’s hard to discern if the band Tulsa Drone carries an air of mystery by design or by circumstance. The band seems to form from the mist for the occasional mind-blowing show and the occasional equally mind-blowing release and then dissipate just as quickly into a cloud of side projects and day jobs. Perhaps it’s this ghostly existence that gives Tulsa Drone’s music such an incredibly unique aura – graceful and sinister, strange yet familiar as a pleasant dream. Most bands struggle their whole existence to make sounds this fully realized – Tulsa Drone seems to do so at will." - RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH
"Tulsa Drone are Richmond-area avant-dabblers standing in a long line of instrumental acts and post-rockers, but it's been a long, long while since four minutes of instrumental rock held my attention so tightly. No build-and-release here; 'Huntsman' is all climax." - PITCHFORK MEDIA (track review)