If you’ve followed my previous articles you'd know a lot of British bands are doing the reunion thing: Led Zeppelin is supposedly playing playing a memorial concert, the Spice Girls are expected to burn our collective ears with state-of-the-art fake singing on an upcoming world tour, and Brit-poppers the Verve have cleaned out their veins and started work on a new album.

The reunion fever has even spread to the states, as geeky sweater-pop also-rans the Rentals have decided to fulfill the prophecy of their first album, The Return of the Rentals, by... returning. It’s debatable if the band ever truly broke up, but they effectively dropped off the planet into geek-pop obscurity after releasing their last EP back in ’99. I had almost forgotten they ever existed, though memory repression may have played its part.

For those unfamiliar with the band’s oeuvre, the Rentals are best remembered as the one-hit-wonder responsible for the mildly annoying, Moog heavy, pseudo-hit “Friends of P.” Dig deep into the annals of your '90s memory, and you might also recall the band is fronted by original Weezer bassist Matt Sharp. His departure from the once-great gods of KISS worship might explain that band's ugly transformation into a diarrhea sandwich, but you can decide for yourself.

As Pitchfork informed us Monday, the Rentals are back in action with an obscenely large tour and an EP titled Last Little Life scheduled to drop on August 14. Los Angeles residents can look forward to an upcoming residency at Spaceland next month.

Don't forget to dig out those thick-rimmed glasses:

It’s officially reunion week here in musicland. Only two days ago I covered the possible reunion of Led Zeppelin, which has yet to be proven false. And some of you, no doubt, are patiently awaiting the "big announcement" from the Spice Girls, which the girl-power quintet have suggested will happen at some point today. From the early reports my spies have drug in, it seems Spice Gals 2.0 are a go, though it hasn't been confirmed 100%.

But even more bands have jumped on the bandwagon. Yesterday, Pitchfork dropped the news that British rockers the Verve are reforming for some shows and a new album. To the majority of America, the Verve -- who should never be confused with fratboy-mopesters the Verve Pipe -- are often dismissed as a one-hit-wonder after the very-sweet success of “Bittersweet Symphony.” In Britain, however, the band was known and respected as one of the top bands of the Britpop movement throughout the nineties. Dates for the upcoming shows include:

As the Verve is known for controversy, this could be a reunion to watch. However, singer Richard Ashcroft has supposedly kicked his notorious drug habit, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll sing about now. My guess is: God, which is where the band's last album, Urban Hymns, was headed anyhow.

Let's call this one a rumor, as “news” of this sort tends to evaporate before it can come true... but if the stars maintain their current cock-eyed alignment, the world may finally see an actual Led Zeppelin reunion. Fans have been teased with rumors for years, but according to Blabbermouth (and an elusive source article by World Entertainment News Network), this could be the announcement Zep-heads have been waiting for.

So the story goes that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones will reunite for a memorial show in honor of recently deceased Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. Joining on drums will be Jason Bonham, the son of long-dead Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. At least they’re keeping it in the family. Blabbermouth and WENN provided this following quote from an ambiguous “source”:

Questions of the rumor's authenticity aside, and provided this does come together, I wonder... will the song remain the same? (I had to.)

Exciting synth-pop news comes our way today thanks to Pitchfork which reports that the long-gone Japanese collective Yellow Magic Orchestra is planning to reunite for a Live Earth performance in Japan. (And, yes, this is the same Live Earth of which Roger Daltrey does not approve.)

YMO aren’t well known here in the States, but they’re well worth discovering. As described by All Music Guide:

My initial exposure came through some of keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto’s collaborations with David Sylvian (the former singer of glammy synth-poppers Japan). Having recently dug into the Yellow Magic Orchestra back catalog, I can attest to the quality of the early records.

Having disbanded by 1984, the group enjoyed a brief reunion in '93, but have not played live under the YMO moniker since. The upcoming reunion will take place as part of the ambitious environmental themed Live Earth event.

Tickets to the intercontinental show can be purchased online, or performances can be streamed via MSN.com. Here’s YMO playing "Technopolis" live in 1980:

"Reunion Mania 2007" is officially underway with The Police, Rage Against The Machine, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Sebadoh, James, Happy Mondays, Crowded House, David Lee Roth & Van Halen, and Dio with Black Sabbath, all dusting-off for live shows. Add another to the list with Billy Corgan's revamped Smashing Pumpkins' making it's live debut this summer at two German festivals in June.

Corgan has still not revealed who will be included in the Pumpkins' line-up other than himself and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Former SP bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur said she would be up for it, if Corgan were to ask.

Another 90's alt-act, Dinosaur Jr., made a return to the stage last year with its original line-up. Now, that classic line-up of J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph will release a new album, entitled Beyond, on May 1st with a live DVD to follow a week later. It will be this line-up's first new album since 1989.

Okay, did I miss anybody? Anyone else wanna squeeze back into their old "rock pants"? I was holding out for The Replacements to tour, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen for a while, now that Paul Westerberg's jacked-up his hand. Goddamn it.

Recommended Viewing:

Dinosaur Jr.'s "Freak Scene"

Police reunion rumors are starting to seem less wishful thinking and more imminent. Billboard is reporting that rehearsals have already begun.

You know the difference between strongly rumored and just rumored right?

Me neither. I'm guessing it means it's basically gonna happen, but we're not going say anything official so we can pretend you were gonna tune into the Grammies anyway, and…look a surprise! Oh my God! The Police!

I'm willing to bet they play "Roxanne" to open the awards and mark the 30th anniversary of the song.

This is great news. I'm excited. But isn't it coming up pretty close on the heals of Sting's "rock bores me" complaints in the media last fall?

Bands, please don't all reunite at once. Too many reunions make them all seem so less than special. I know that when you see people get all excited about the Pixies reunion you think, "Man, that looks like fun!" The only problem is every other semi-retired band thinks so too.

Soon bands will break up only to reunite soon after, just because it looks like the cool thing to do.

Sure to be eclipsed in the news by the recent reunions of larger acts, James is the latest to jump on the crowded reunion band wagon. Singer Tim Booth, who left the band in 2001, announced his decision to rejoin the band and head out for a set of shows.

The line-up appears to be the band as it was during the 1993 album Laid, which includes Tim on vocals, Jim Glennie on bass, Larry Gott on guitar, Saul Davies also on guitar, Mark Hunter on keys, and Dave Power as the drummer. Tickets for the spring tour of the UK go on sale this Friday, January 26 at 9am GMT, click the link.

When was the last time you heard this?

The question now is whether the supporting act The Twang will have the same luck that James' 90s supporting acts went on to have. James has a history of supporting acts going on to larger fame such as Nirvana, Coldplay, and Radiohead. And in the 80s it wasn't much different with the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays—whom James later had to support. Ouch.

Scottish group, Bis, have announced their first shows since their 2003 break-up, according to Drowned In Sound. The band is reforming to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their landmark release, New Transistor Heroes. The album was recently awarded the the number four spot by Scottish magazine The List's readers on its "Best Scottish Albums of All-Time" list. Only two April 2007 shows have been announced, so far, but more seem sure to come.

Bis's members continued playing music together follwing the break-up, forming an offshoot band called Data Panik in 2005. The band, however, had difficulty finding a label to support touring and quickly dissolved in 2006 after releasing one single. No word yet on whether or not the band plan to release anything under the Bis moniker again, marking an official return.

Dates announced so far:

April 6 2007 King Tut's, Glasgow
April 7 2007 TBA venue, London

Recommended Listening:

Bis New Transistor Heroes
Buy Here

Recommended Viewing:
Bis' first appearance on Top of The Pops in 1995.

In a feature for Uncut Magazine, still-dread-locked-after-all-these-years Ari Up discusses punky-dub and proto-riot grrls, The Slits, recent reformation (Vocalist Up and bassist Tessa Pollit being the only original members, adding Punk Rock Royalty to the line-up via Sex Pistol Paul Cook's daughter, Holly, and The Clash's Mick Jones' daughter, Lauren) and tour since its 1981 break-up. Expressing her feelings on the band's past and vision of its future, Up frames The Slits as activists choosing music as their voice.

Ari also contrasts The Slits mission in reforming against their many peers that have taken a similar route.

And just what does Ms. Up think of new music these days? Not much apparently:

Up also discusses new and old band members, new Slits material, her recent solo album, and "lots of baby Slits dotted across the world". Read more here.

(Tessa Pollit and Ari Up of The Slits)

Recommended Listening:

The Slits Peel Sessions
Buy Here.

Further Perusal:
The Slits Official Site

Bjork reunited with her former bandmates in The Sugarcubes this past friday at a one-off reunion gig in Reykjavík, Iceland. The show was done as a benefit for the band's former label, the not-for-profit Smekkleysa SM. If you didn't have thousands of dollars for airfare and the insanely-fast-selling tickets, you are in luck. Thanks to this age of video-phones and the internet, you can see clips from the show in the comfort of your own home. Footage has surfaced on YouTube.com and Google Video. Bjork wears a shimmery dress and looks as fresh as she did when she was a mere college radio star. In some of the footage, there appear to be several cameras recording the gig, and knowing Bjork's penchant for releasing everything she can fart out- I'd say there's a DVD of the gig on it's way! Bust out the burgandy hair dye, Doc Martens, dust off that cassette copy of Life's Too Good, and party like it's 1990, kids!


(Those wacky Sugarcubes back in the day)

The reunion performance of "Delicious Demon" can be seen
here.

Reunion footage of the classic "Birthday" can be found below via YouTube: