The Mostly Dead (DC) + The Donalds (Richmond, VA) Team Up For Split EP ‘Two Handsome’

Two stalwarts of the DIY punk/hardcore scene, DC’s The Mostly Dead and RVA’s The Donalds are teaming up for a new spilt EP titled ‘Two Handsome’ set for release digitally on November 27, with limited edition color vinyl to follow in December.

Pre-orders are available now via https://sfirecords.bandcamp.com/album/two-handsome.

Check out the music video for The Mostly Dead’s “As Human As Human” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGPlQxCoQsM&feature=emb_logo.

For some, punk rock is a full-time job; for DC’s The Mostly Dead, it’s one of many. Graphic Designers, Editors, IT guys—the members of The Mostly Dead handle those obligations and more during business hours. Then, they head to the practice space for their other job: punk rock. All the members of TMD are doing double-duty, much like their van, which hauls them around on tour when it’s not being used for the daily commute. The demands of day to day life aren’t something to work around for The Mostly Dead–they’re just part of who they are.

“We’re punk rock lifers,” says vocalist and bassist Zak Jordon. “We’ve all played in bands our entire lives, and there’s no reason to stop or slow down now.” “It’s not a thing we do on the side as a hobby,” adds drummer Kurt Foster. “It’s who we are—our music informs our lives as much as our lives inform our music.”

While touring steadily and playing shows with everyone from Bummer to Sharptooth to Gallows to punk legends The Business, the band has also adhered to an active release schedule, having put out several albums and EPs over the last ten years recorded with such luminaries as J. Robbins (Jawbox), Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour), and Brian McTernan (Battery).

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Formed in 2014 from the ashes of Wolfman after a fatefully-answered Craigslist ad for a “new stonerviolence project”, Richmond, VA’s The Donalds have taken many forms. Past and current members of Bloody Crackdown, What Price Victory, Genosha, Lounge Lizzard, Lacking, and Sex Worker have all been involved and have all contributed to the evolving sound. With each release, they tighten their grip on a particularly mean blend of hardcore, grind, death metal, and punk, always orienting toward a more powerful DIY performance. An active part of the local Virginia hardcore scene, The Donalds have been playing shows big and small everywhere from Atlanta to Washington DC since 2015. Whether self-recording at The Warehouse, or working with Rusty Scott (The Ward) or Yave Rust, they’ve insisted on meaner and faster new songs each year, and shared the stage with punk vets Savage Remains and Grade 2, as well as metal killers Organ Trail, No/Mas, and Cruelsifix.

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‘Two Handsome’, sees this seven-headed hydra team up for a split EP, with each band contributing two brand new songs. The bands have shared stages up and down the East Coast, and when the notion of a split was floated, both bands jumped at the chance.

“The idea was for each band to show what they do, what they’re about,” The Mostly Dead guitarist Eric Mummert explains. “Our styles overlap, but they’re each unique, and we thought putting them side-by-side would make for an awesome listening experience.” “We’ve been really excited about the new material we’ve been coming up with, and we love The Donalds, especially the energy they bring in their live shows,” Foster elaborates. “We wanted to combine forces and see what would happen.”

“Nowadays “hardcore” can mean almost anything that’s abrasive or heavy or tough, but we feel like hardcore is a lived experience,” says Donalds guitarist Matt Launderville. “Regular working people finding time, despite everything, to get out their frustration and excitement and emotion into short little bursts of fury. Sticking your neck out for your art – that’s hardcore. When you sense that fire in another person, you’ve gotta become friends, play shows, and put out stuff together, and we definitely feel that about our buds in The Mostly Dead.”

For fans, it’s a chance to hear new music from two exciting bands. ‘Two Handsome’ will be released digitally on November 27, 2020 with limited edition color vinyl available in December.