PPR is from Atlanta. They have been playing long enough to know better.

The band formed in the summer of 2002 at "the farm," a cabin in the woods owned by bassist Brian Weinberg's family. Not much was actually farmed there except insanity, which requires no watering and minimal upkeep. It was in these isolated surroundings that the band wrote much of the material for their self-titled debut EP, a raw and brash record not without a certain green charm.

Following the exodus from and subsequent burning/destruction of the farm, PPR wrote and recorded Diarrhea, a 34-song blast, which, according to guitarist/vocaist Spencer Pope, "is awesome but a little hard for some people to take." The band did a tour of the East Coast to support the album, as well as countless shows closer to home.

But trying to follow up Diarrhea proved difficult, with the band recording two albums that never made it to the public's ears. Founding drummer, Alex Picca, left Atlanta leaving the remaining members with a gaping whole to fill. Meanwhile, Pope became occupied playing with the much-missed local band, Sovus Radio.

After much searching, a new drummer finally emerged in the form of Chris Costello, who at the time was playing in post-grunge outfit, Dented. The trio began practicing together but things only seemed to sputter along slowly. It wasn't until the near-simultaneous demise of both Sovus Radio and Dented that PPR would regain focus and begin writing material in earnest. Eventually, in an attempt to document their progress, they took their new songs to the world famous Milestone Club in Charlotte, NC. The music from this marathon recording/drinking session was divided into two parts, Crab, an instrumental surf EP, and Breakfast, a heavy and somewhat experimental album.

While each of those records had their own strengths and merits, it wasn't long before the trio turned their attention to something much more ambitious. They began experimenting with material that was longer, more conceptual and spacious than anything they had ever done. After spending several months developing new music, it became apparent that the songs were lashing themselves naturally to one another. Rather than a collection of individual works, PPR became intent on constructing a single epic song suite, one that would tell a story—a sci-fi tale of a deadly robot hell-bent on destruction. Enter The Robot Destoyer: Part I.

"The Robot Destroyer concept has been around for a while," explains Pope. "The story was worked out a few years ago, but when we tried to develop musically, it just wasn't happening. With our latest material it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring it back. We didn't want it to be a traditional narrative with a lot of lyrics to describe the characters and the plot. We wanted it to be more visual, a body of work accompanied by illustrations. So that's what we did."

Working with local illustrators, Jason Rhodes and Eric Wagner, PPR set about orchestrating a 20-page comic book that would help tell the first part of the Robot Destroyer saga. Encouraged by the results, the band has already started work on future installments. "This is unlike anything we've done before," says Pope. "The music is essentially a soundtrack to a cartoon, a comic book that will be included with the recording. The other parts of the story are likely to retain this format, although ideally an animation will be produced at some point."

The band also took a different approach to recording in the studio. Whereas their previous albums have essentially been live recordings with little to no overdubs, the band used The Robot Destroyer as an opportunity to explore the studio more, layering the music with different instruments and overdubbing extra guitars and vocals. They also cajoled longtime associate Jason Nesmith into assuming a more creative roll with the production and mixing of the album. The result is the band's most cohesive and compelling release to date, a 24-minute opus of dark rhythms and blistering riffs that remains tuneful while still delivering the schizophrenic barrage of musical styles that the band has become known for.

"Musically this album is a career retrospective of sorts," declares Pope. "We have the prog element of our first album, the punk ethos of Diarrhea, the melodic concepts of Crab, and the thrash/metal feel of Breakfast all in one package. I feel it gives the listener a great feel for what PPR is all about. This is the most accesssible work we have ever produced. The whole band thinks it rules."

The Robot Destroyer: Part I will be released on September 21st.