The Olympia-based hardcore band G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit) have announced they are breaking up. They shared a statement on Maximum Rocknroll detailing their reasons, citing the “toll” the band was taking on the “mental and physical” health of some of its members, writing that “operating at this level of visibility often feels like too much.” They added: “The punk we care about isn’t supposed to be about getting big or becoming famous, it’s supposed to be about challenging ourselves and each other to be better people.” You can read an excerpt from their statement below, and find the full statement here.

G.L.O.S.S. will play the upcoming Not Dead Yet Fest in Toronto in October and are in the midst of “planning one final show in the northwest.” Proceeds the band will make on Bandcamp after their break-up will be donated to the Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter in Olympia. In June, the band shared Trans Day of Revenge**. They released their debut DEMO last year.

Read more about G.L.O.S.S. in our feature “The Year in Punk 2015.”

Hey y’all, G.L.O.S.S. has decided to break up and move on with our lives. We all remain close friends, but are at a point where we need to be honest about the toll this band is taking on the mental and physical health of some of us. We are not all high-functioning people, and operating at this level of visibility often feels like too much. We want to measure success in terms of how we’ve been able to move people and be moved by people, how we’ve been able to grow as individuals. This band has become too large and unwieldy to feel sustainable or good anymore—the only thing growing at this point is the cult of personality surrounding us, which feels unhealthy. There is constant stress, and traveling all the time is damaging our home lives, keeping us from personal growth and active involvement in our communities. Being in the mainstream media, where total strangers have a say in something we’ve created for other queer people, is exhausting.

Revisit G.L.O.S.S.’ “G.L.O.S.S. (We’re From the Future),” which placed at 61 on Pitchfork’s “The Best 100 Tracks of 2015” list: