Pitchfork

California noise-punk label Gold Standard Laboratories announced yesterday, October 29, via a statement on its website that it is calling it quits this month, citing "the onset of factors that have seriously limited our ability to maintain what we feel is the essence of the label." (See below for the full text of the statement.) Most of the label's 14-year back catalog will remain in print both digitally and physically, with mail order available via Redeye Distribution/11spot.com.

Gold Standard Laboratories, or GSL for short, was founded in 1993 in Colorado by Sonny Kay of the punk band Angel Hair (and later of the VSS and Year Future). In 1996, Kay and the label moved to California. Between 1996 and 2001, GSL released early records from future stars like the Locust, the Rapture, !!!, Out Hud, and the Faint.

In 2001, Kay partnered with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, then of At the Drive-In. GSL would go on to release many Rodriguez-Lopez projects, including records by the Mars Volta, De Facto, and various solo and collaborative groups.

The full statement:

October 2007 marks the 14th anniversary of GSL's first release. Between that time and now, we've had some incredible opportunities, worked with some exceptional artists, and weathered our fair share of highs and lows. In recent years, we've experienced the onset of factors that have seriously limited our ability to maintain what we feel is the essence of the label; the experimental attitude and artistic freewheeling of times past are simply no longer sustainable. Rather than compromise our goals and beliefs, or allow our course to be charted by financial constraint and an industry in flux, we've decided the time has come for GSL to cease releasing new music, and to close this chapter of our story. We've spent the better part of the past year considering this decision. The recent passing of Factory Records founder Tony Wilson, whose singular example and influence on GSL cannot be understated, came as something of a cosmic reinforcement of our instinctual belief that GSL's time has come and gone. The fact that the original Factory Records itself lasted just 14 years may only be a coincidence, although we choose to see it differently. If one day the right opportunity presents itself, who knows, GSL may re-emerge. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, most of our back catalog will continue to be available both physically and online; from now on mailorder will be in the hands of Redeye Distribution/11spot.com.

We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported our efforts throughout the years, not the least of all the bands who have, in many cases, exercised enormous degrees of patience with us, as well as to the loyal music fans who have been brave enough to follow their instincts and peek under a rock or two every now and then. We could not have lasted this long without you.

Let the spirit of perseverance thrive in the face of adversity.