Pitchfork

Photo by Kyle Gustafson

"We are now spread through three states," Jason Urick of Baltimore noise poppers Wzt Hearts wrote in a statement yesterday, "[and] the challenges of staying active while being physically displaced from one another eventually took [their] toll as we all have been involved with other aspects of our [lives] as well." If it sounds like a breakup letter, well, it is; Wzt Hearts, as of now, have amicably parted ways in order to pursue other projects and presumably save a little coin on fossil fuels. The band crafted two rather good LPs over its four-year run, 2006's Heat Chief and 2007's Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones.

All four Hearts do indeed have quite a bit going on at the moment, as Urick alluded to in his note. Urick himself is finishing up an album under his long-dormant moonstealingproject moniker, as well as a 12" and a split 7" with Half Japanese's Jason Willett under his own name. Mike Haleta intends to release a record with Voltage Spooks, and is still making sweet music with his wife Dawn as backbreakerneckbrace. Jeff Donaldson is manning the boards for These Are Powers while they're off in Europe. He'll continue his 8-bit NoTendo project and has a few shows with Haleta coming up (dates below). And Shaun Flynn is as ever a man about town in Baltimore, playing in various Charm City combos.

Jeff Donaldson and Mike Haleta:

11-28 New York, NY - Cake Shop
12-19 New York, NY - Cake Shop