Hacked Nudes / Man Bites Dog's Split EP is Illinois-based DIY label In The Lake Records (@itl_recs)' 13th release. It was released earlier today, September 13th, at 1:00pm AKA 13:00 Central Daylight Time. Hacked Nudes is a self-professed Post-Punk/Reggae three-piece hailing from the Northern suburbs of Chicago with a particular affiliation to Berserk/Dark Circles/In The Lake Records. It appears as though Berserk Records was a functioning label from about 2012-16 and that's, actually, where two-thirds of Hacked Nudes met; In The Lake Records founder and bassist Pete met guitarist/vocalist John E. Swan III of polynerve—a newly-minted small press and cassette label—while the two were working together at Berserk Records and around 2016, Berserk morphed into ITL Records. The Witzard regulars, at this point, might be familiar with John Swan (@midwest_stress) from his monthly column, Various Artists: How Compilations Influenced a Generation, we've been running here for the past 3-4 months. Swan also, performs solo as t h e m e s and has penned his first novel, Any Way to Elsewhere, to be issued on polynerves next month. However, very little is known about Hacked Nudes' third and final member, drummer, Kevin, aside from the fact that he's a "long-time friend" of both Pete & John. From 2004-08, Pete & Kevin were in a band called Britvas together and started Hacked Nudes in 2009. Split EP is Hacked Nudes' first proper full-length release since 2015's Hacked Nudes & Singles EP. Hacked Nudes / Man Bites Dog's Split EP was originally intended to be a four-way split LP, which would have featured the two Illinois bands, as well as two additional bands.


However, the finalized just-released EP now features 3 songs from each act. Hacked Nudes' contributions to Split EP were recorded about 2.5-3 years ago by Jeremy Judy at Ten Spot Recording, while, it appears as though, the contents of Man Bites Dogs' side were recorded far more recently. Man Bites Dog are a like-minded band, also, hailing from Illinois, consisting of Omar Garcia on vocals/guitar, Declan Coughlan on bass, Andy Soderstrom on drums, "honorary awesome dude" Greg Lamp, and "honorary heart-breaker/awesome dude" Mike Lindsey. It appears as though Split EP is Man Bites Dog's first proper release since their 2014 MBD EP1. "Stargaze" from Man Bites Dog's side, as well as an early demo version of Hacked Nudes' "Diced Onions" both appeared within ITL's third proper release, Festival: In The Lake digital album/cassette compilation. Hacked Nudes / Man Bites Dog's Split EP is currently available online, although, it's limited to just 50 pink shell cassette tapes; 25 available at In The Lake Records' Bandcamp page and the remaining 25 available directly from Man Bites Dog. For a limited time, ITL are offering what they're billing as "The Hacked Nudes Collection" (5) which contains Split EP and their 2015 self-titled EP, as well as a compilation selected at random and ITL/Hacked Nudes pins. Hacked Nudes / Man Bites Dog's Split EP is recommended for fans of At The Drive-In, Against Me! Hot Water Music, Cap'n Jazz, and "other very cool things," as @midwest_stress writes on Instagram. For regular updates, you can Follow Hacked Nudes (@ProhibitionRiot) on Twitter and Man Bites Dog (@ManBitesDogIL) on Facebook/Instagram, as well as @ITLRecs on Twitter.