Alt-metal quartet A Perfect Circle [ tickets ] hits the road for a short round of club and theater dates in advance of the September release of its sophomore effort.

The run kicks off in Denver on July 26 and wraps up in Minneapolis on Aug. 11, after which the group links up with the Jane's Addiction-led Lollapalooza outing for a handful of western-U.S. dates.

Titled "Thirteenth Step," A Perfect Circle's second album is due out on Sept. 16. The set features the group's new bassist, Jeordie White, a.k.a. ex- Marilyn Manson [ tickets ] member Twiggy Ramirez.

White--hired to replace original bassist Paz Lechantin, who left to join Billy Corgan's post-Smashing Pumpkins outfit Zwan [ tickets ]--joins singer Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Billy Howerdel and drummer Josh Freese.

"Thirteenth Step" is the follow up to A Perfect Circle's 2000 debut, "Mer de Noms." The platinum-certified effort spawned the hit singles "Judith" and "3 Libras."

Because the band's members come from a number of high-profile groups--most notably Keenan, who also fronts multi-platinum-selling prog-rock quartet Tool [ tickets ]--many media outlets often referred to A Perfect Circle as a "side-project" following its inception. The group addressed the issue in its "Mer de Noms"-era bio sheet.

"A Perfect Circle is not a side project. A Perfect Circle is not a hobby for any of those involved. ... A Perfect Circle is a Los Angeles-based band formed at the end of the last decade by free-thinking individuals, each actively seeking to challenge themselves and their listeners through intense and provocative performance."