Actually a rebrand rather than a reunion, US indie pop outfit The Morning Benders have opted to drop their moniker of seven years, deciding instead that they’d prefer to be referred to as POP ETC. Whilst touring the UK, the band realised that their original name had different connotations overseas than in America (“We were told it was the equivalent of ‘The Morning Fags’”, they say), and changed it to avoid causing public offence.

Writing on behalf of the band in this statement, frontman Christopher Chu explains: “We simply cannot go on using a name that is demeaning to the gay community. The reason we are making music is to reach and unite as many different kinds of people as possible, and the idea that our name may be hateful towards anyone makes us sick”.

He continues: “In the UK and many parts of Europe the name has simply become too distracting. The MUSIC has always been our number one focus, and we want to present that to people in as pure a way as possible”.

Now free from all such distractions, Chu and POP ETC have released a free mixtape, their first new output since 2010 album ‘Big Echo’. It’s available at popetcetera.com.

Short-lived hardcore outfit Kiss It Goodbye, formed by members of New Jersey bands Deadguy and Rorschach, have announced that they will reform for their former label Revelation Records’ upcoming 25th anniversary show in June, as well as a handful of other US dates. Guitarist Keith Huckins and drummer Andrew Gormley will not be involved, but it’s thought the rest of the original line-up will be.

Now, let’s get on with the real reason for writing this piece, an excuse for us to listen to all eight and a half minutes of ‘Sick Day’ from their sole album ‘She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not…’

Every time a band reforms, I always think to myself: “Well, at least that’s all of them now”. Then another one turns up. This week it’s S Club 7 (all seven of them), who have confirmed rumours that they are reuniting – reportedly for a tour and two album deal.

Actually, we first reported that this seemed to be happening back in November last year. I’d deliberately forgotten about it though. All it took was 20 minutes of repeatedly banging my head against the filing cabinet next to my desk. Now I’m going to have to do that all over again. Oh well.

Last time this came up, it was rumoured that the group had been inspired to come back after seeing the success enjoyed by the reunited Steps. But no, according to the Mirror it’s because of the Olympics and the Queen’s jubilee. Because that makes perfect sense.

A source told the tabloid: “What with the Olympics coming up and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert, there’s a real British feelgood factor at the moment. The band figured it was a case of now or never”.

Generally a bloke hobbling around on stage with a pair of maracas is not considered essential to a band’s performance. But there’s always an exception to the rule, and The Happy Mondays are an exception to many rules.

Happy Mondays dancer Bez has revealed that he will not be jiggling around with the band on their reunion tour. He told the NME at its awards ceremony on Wednesday night: “I won’t be on the stage because my performing days are over. Basically I’m too old. I’m incapable of doing the job, I’m carrying too many injuries. All good things come to an end”.

He will, however, be acting as a compere and DJ, so it’s not like you won’t see him if you’re one of the weird people planning on going to these shows.

Atomic Kitten will not be reforming for a new TV documentary and then a stint representing the UK at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Well, they’re definitely not doing the Eurovision thing, unless all three members of the former girl group are big fat liars. Rumours that the Kitten were planning on copying Steps in reforming via a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary started circulating earlier this month, while the Daily Star reported that the reformation would peak with a Eurovision performance yesterday.

But all three members of the classic Kitten line up took to Twitter this weekend to deny the Eurovision chatter. Liz McClarnon told her followers on the micro-blogging platform “we know nothing about Eurovision”, while Natasha Hamilton joked that she “thought maybe my memo got lost in the post!”

Of course behind the scenes talks about an Atomic Kitten TV show might have caused the Eurovision rumours, though when Broadcast cited sources commenting on a documentary about the pop trio earlier this month they admitted all discussions about pop-reunion-based projects were at a very early stage.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At The Drive-In has put an end to speculation that the band, who have just reunited after a considerable hiatus, might record a new LP. Ever.

Speaking to Kerrang about the reformation, he said: “Will there be an album? No, no, no. At The Drive-In is more of a nostalgia thing – it’s songs we wrote when we were all in our 20s and we’re doing a couple of shows”.

He added: “It’s an old t-shirt that doesn’t fit me any more, but when you put it on again, it feels nice. It’s as simple as that”. Presumably that means old t-shirts tour, but don’t make new music. Is that how it is, Omar? Hmph.

Anyway. At The Drive-In are set to cash-in at several high-profile festival bookings this year, which include their first ever European appearance at Benicassim. Good for them.

It’s been threatened for a long time, but East 17 are finally ready to make a full comeback. Having announced in May last year that they would perform without wildcard bandmate Brian Harvey, Tony Mortimer, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell announced and then almost immediately cancelled a reunion tour.

“Recording commitments” were the unlikely reason given at the time, though it seems this excuse was actually true. They’re back, and they’re bringing with them a “new transatlantic rock sound”.

Says Mortimer: “I think everyone is subconsciously inspired by American music and rock n roll, and this time around we wanted to do something more live with less tricks”.

Yes, obviously. A full album, entitled ‘Dark Light’, is due for release on 2 Apr via FOD. You can watch the video for first single ‘I Can’t Get You Off My Mind (Crazy)’ below. It’s comforting to find that for all this change, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell’s contributions remain utterly pointless still.

All five members of the original Guns N Roses line-up, Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler, will attend the band’s induction into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in April. Or so says the band’s current keyboard player, Dizzy Reed. Although it’s not the first time someone has made that claim, and previously a denial quickly followed.

As previously reported, in December last year Hall Of Fame CEO Joel Peresman said: “Who will be invited, obviously, is the original five, and Dizzy and Matt. All have RSVP’d that they will show. Everyone’s said they’re coming”.

But Slash, who was presumably part of the “everyone” Perseman referred to, then tweeted: “For the record, I didn’t RSVP, or in any way commit to attending the RRHF”.

But now Reed, who first joined the band in 1990 making him the longest serving member after Axl Rose, says that everyone is now on board. “I know that all the original band is going to be there”, he told Billboard. “I don’t know exactly what’s going to go down. It’s one of those things I’m sure will all come together and be really cool. I’m just going to go in with a good attitude and a clear head and a grateful heart”.

Even if all the original members do end up attending the Hall Of Fame party, the prospect of them all standing on stage together seems unthinkable, and a live performance even more so. Can Reed shed any light on that matter? No. “Honestly, we haven’t spoken about it”, he said. “I don’t know when or why or how to bring it up. It’s not an every day sort of thing. So we haven’t really talked about it – but I’m sure we’ll have to [stand together] at some point”.

So, that’s something to look forward to.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Black Sabbath have recruited Tommy Clufetos to replace drummer Bill Ward on their in progress reunion. Session musician Clufetos currently plays in Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band.

As previously reported, Ward was dumped from the band’s current plans last week after he issued a statement saying that he had be given an “unsignable” contract for the reunion project. Calling his bluff, the rest of the band responded by announcing that they were giving up the “original line-up” banner and forging ahead without him.

Presumably the band reckon that most people won’t notice if Ward is there or not, though a page titled “1,000,000 Black Sabbath fans say yes to Bill Ward” has appeared on Facebook demanding that the reunion only goes ahead with Ward’s involvement. Currently it’s more like 30,000 Black Sabbath fans, but it’s early days, and the total has risen by nearly 20,000 since yesterday afternoon.

Whether the band will pay any attention remains to be see. Currently they are continuing with recording sessions for their new album, and preparing for their Download headline set this summer.

The Jesus And Mary Chain have announced that they will reunite for a handful of US tour dates in March, including a performance at SxSW.

Brothers Jim and William Reid will be joined by guitarist John Moore (who played on the band’s first two albums, ‘Psychocandy’ and ‘Darklands’), bassist Phil King, and an as-yet-unnamed drummer.

No word on any UK dates as yet, but while you wait here’s a mix featuring some music that Jim Reid enjoyed in 2011.

Well, that’s the end of the original line-up of Black Sabbath being back together again. After drummer Bill Ward issued a statement last week saying that he was being offered “an unsignable contract”, the rest of the band have now called his bluff and announced they will carry on without him.

In a statement, the band said on Friday: “We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans. We have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open. We are still in the UK with Tony, writing and recording the new album and on a roll”.

Of course, if they’d read Ward’s statement properly, they’d have seen that he didn’t say he was declining to participate. He actually wrote that he was all ready to head over to the UK to get on with recording sessions for the new album, but that he felt the contract he had been asked to sign didn’t properly represent his contribution to the band.

Whatever, Thrash Hits has put together a great analysis of this squabble here.

The city of Birmingham may be working out how to celebrate the reunion of the original Black Sabbath line-up for a Download headline set this summer, but don’t assume that reformation is 100% set in stone just yet. Drummer Bill Ward says he may as yet pull out, because he is still to agree terms with whoever it is drummers agree terms with over things like this.

The US-based Ward will have to relocate to the UK for the reunion, after it was decided to work on a new album over here so that guitarist Tony Iommi could concurrently receive treatment for cancer. Ward says he is happy to make that move, but not while contractual issues remain unresolved.

In a letter to the band’s fans posted on his website, Ward wrote: “At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour. However, I am unable to continue unless a ‘signable’ contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band. Last year, I worked diligently in good faith with Tony, Ozzy and Geezer. And on 11/11/11, again in good faith, I participated in the LA press conference. Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another ‘unsignable’ contract was handed to me”.

He continued: “Let me say that although this has put me in some kind of holding pattern, I am packed and ready to leave the US for England. More importantly, I definitely want to play on the album, and I definitely want to tour with Black Sabbath. Since the news of Tony’s illness, and the understanding that the band would move production to the UK, I’ve spent every day getting to or living in a place of readiness to leave”.

He went on: “That involves something of a task, and as I’ve tried to find out what’s going on with the UK sessions, I’ve realised that I’ve been getting ‘the cold shoulder’ (and, I might add, not for the first time). Feeling somewhat ostracised, my guess is as of today, I will know nothing of what’s happening unless I sign ‘the unsignable contract’. The place I’m in feels lousy and lonely because as much as I want to play and participate, I also have to stand for something and not sign on. If I sign as-is, I stand to lose my rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician”.

Insisting he wasn’t making unreasonable financial demands in his negotiations, he concluded: “I’m not holding out for a ‘big piece’ of the action (money) like some kind of blackmail deal. I’d like something that recognises and is reflective of my contributions to the band, including the reunions that started fourteen years ago. After the last tour I vowed to never again sign on to an unreasonable contract. I want a contract that shows some respect to me and my family, a contract that will honour all that I’ve brought to Black Sabbath since its beginning”.

The rest of the band and their management are yet to respond to Ward’s letter.

Rapper Raekwon has said he feels that Wu-Tang Clan’s many solo projects meant the quality of their output as a group dropped off as their careers progressed. Which is probably a fair assessment.

He rambled thus on Vlad-TV: “I feel like in a way, us doing solo things hurt us. I never told nobody that. When we had something so pure and so solid together [at the beginning], it could’ve been structured more togetherly [later on] … if we knew it had to stay like that. But when we allow[ed] each other to [work on solo projects], some did better than others and when some did better than others, it caused a certain kind of reaction in the whole movement”.

He continued: “It wasn’t like nobody was trying to out-do each other, because we all was nice, it was just that some probably worked a little harder and some did more things and some was just playing his part. To me, when we did that, it kinda like put us in a more competitive situation with each other instead of focusing more strongly on the brand. The brand is so big just as a team, it’s like when we did that, it jumped into some ego shit – which normally happens, but what I’m just trying to say is if we would’ve stayed more tighter, we probably would’ve had about 30 albums right now”.

In that case, maybe it was a good thing they split off after all. I’m not sure recording 30 albums in 20 years would have helped their creativity much either. Anyway, watch Raekwon’s full interview here:

The Happy Mondays reunion is official, and a string of May dates have been announced.

Backing singer Rowetta Satchell was first to officially confirm that the original line up of the Happy Mondays – including both the Ryder brothers – will reunite this summer, telling the BBC this weekend: “We want to put on a really good show. We decided it would only be special, and work, if it was the total original line-up. We’re all really excited. They are my family these boys, I’ve really missed them and I’m sure they’ve missed each other”.

The most recent reunion of the Mondays, in 2004, was missing some of the original line up, with Paul Ryder having declared a few years earlier that he’d never perform with his brother Shaun again. But it seems Shaun Ryder and his manager have now successfully persuaded the rest of the original line up – plus Bez and Satchell (who weren’t actually there right from the start) – to join in with the latest reformation.

In an official statement this morning Shaun Ryder said: “We all met up last week and some of the lads haven’t seen each other in over ten, fifteen years. It’s as if we’ve never been apart – so good to all be in the same room again. We can’t wait now to get on tour and play the songs that made us famous”.

Rumours of a Mondays reunion circulated late last year, with them being heavily tipped as possible support for this year’s Stone Roses reunion shows, though as yet only the stand alone gigs have been confirmed, as follows:

3 May: Newcastle Academy
4 May: Glasgow Academy
5 May: Manchester Arena
6 May: Sheffield Academy
9 May: Bournemouth Academy
10 May: Brixton Academy
11 May: Brixton Academy
12 May: Birmingham Academy
15 May: Dublin Olympia
17 May: Leeds Academy
18 May: Nottingham Rock City

Ben Folds Five were a little coy about the prospect of a reunion last year. Folds told Spinner in September that after sessions to record three new songs for the singer-songwriter’s forthcoming career retrospective compilation went well, they would “probably” regroup for a full album. And earlier this week Folds confirmed it, announcing via Twitter that recording sessions had begun.

He tweeted: “It’s happening fo sho – day one in studio with Robert [Sledge, bass] and Darren [Jesse, drums] through March #NewBenFoldsFiveRecord”.

The album will be the band’s first since 1999′s ‘The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner’.

Fleet Foxes drummer J Tillman has announced that he is leaving the band, with his final performance with them due to take place tonight at Studio Coast in Tokyo.

In a post to his Tumblr blog announcing the news, Tillman said: “Farewell Fleet fans and friends.  Back into the gaping maw of obscurity I go. Tokyo is my last show with the Foxes. Sorry if I was distant and obtuse if we ever met. Have fun”.

Having joined Fleet Foxes in 2008, Tillman has subsequently released three solo albums – ‘Vacilando Territory Blues’ and ‘Year In The Kingdom’ in 2009 and ‘Singing Ax’ in 2010. No reason has been given for the split, so instead let’s all go and read his fantastically downbeat (and presumably self-penned) biog on the website of his US label Western Vinyl.

Remember ex-Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna, who recently also became ex-Marilyn Manson drummer Chris Vrenna? If so, you’d best forget all about him, because he’s been replaced in the Manson band by former Chris Cornell, Pink, and Foreigner collaborator Jason Sutter.

Despite having recorded drum parts for the forthcoming Manson album ‘Born Villain’ (due this year via Cooking Vinyl), Vrenna was unwilling to take part in the goth-rock provocateurs’ ‘God Of Fuck’ tour. Well, who can blame him? So Sutter will now take to the drum kit for those shows.

David’s Lyre, aka Paul Dixon, has announced that he will retire the project after the release of his debut album and a farewell tour. In a message to fans on Facebook last week, he revealed that he’d made the decision to end the project after his deal with Universal’s Hideout Records was terminated just before Christmas. He also revealed that the end of his major label partnership meant he wouldn’t be able to afford to fulfil touring obligations supporting Spector in February, but that he would undertake one final smaller solo tour instead.

Dixon wrote: “David’s Lyre began a little over two years ago. I signed a record deal with a major label six months after starting the project, and this relationship ended just before Christmas 2011. When we first signed we had hoped that the album would be out summer 2011, but for various reasons, as you know, this didn’t happen”.

He continued: “I remain hugely grateful for the opportunities and patronage given to me, but it is evident that the natural tension in the relationship between art and business within the music industry is currently at its most strained. I join an ever-expanding group of artists who are opting out of this model in order to bring you, the fans, our best. [But] unfortunately, without label support, we will not be able to fulfil the touring commitments we had previously made … [I] hope that you choose to journey with me into my new projects and beyond”.

The solo tour of smaller venues will take place in February, with a farewell show featuring his full band planned for 1 Mar at the 100 Club in London. The album, ‘Picture Of You’, will also see the light of day, released on a pay-what-you-want basis via Bandcamp – on 20 Feb.

Now let’s mourn the loss of David’s Lyre by watching the video for his cover Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ (one of the better ones of the many that were released at the end of last year), which doubles up as a short film on Salford superhero, Knight Warrior:

Late 90s/early noughties punk outfits At The Drive-In and Refused will both perform at this year’s Coachella festival, it has been announced. ATDI pre-empted the news with an announcement yesterday, simply saying: “At The Drive-In will be breaking their eleven year silence. This station is… now… operational”.

Although there was much excitement online about the apparent reformation, it wasn’t initially clear exactly what was planned until this year’s Coachella line-up was subsequently published, which revealed not only two performances from ATDI on its two Sunday line-ups (15 and 22 Apr), but also sets from Refused on the Fridays (13 and 20 Apr). The line-up announcement also confirmed speculation that Pulp will continue their reunion activity in 2012, appearing on the Coachella bill above Refused.

Texan quintet At The Drive-In split in November 2000, with its members forming new bands The Mars Volta and Sparta. Sparta recently began performing live again after a three year hiatus and Mars Volta frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala recently announced that a new album from that band is “just around the corner”, with reports that the new record will be released in March.

Swedes Refused split two years prior to ATDI in 1998, an implosion that was captured in the documentary ‘Refused Are Fucking Dead’. Rumours of a reunion have been circulating since 2010, but have always been denied by the band. Frontman Denis Lyxzén confirmed on Facebook yesterday that the band’s classic 1994-1998 line-up – Lyxzén, David Sandström, Kristofer Steen, and Jon Brännström – would indeed be performing together again in 2012. An appearance at Sweden’s Way Out West festival has also been announced.

At The Drive-In, meanwhile, confirmed that they too would be reuniting with their ‘classic’ line-up – Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Jim Ward, Omar Rodríguez-López, Paul Hinojos, and Tony Hajjar – via brief flashes of each of their faces in this video:

The original three members of the Sugababes – Keisha Buchanan, Siobhan Donaghy and Mutya Buena  – have reformed and have recorded new material, according to Popjustice.

However, on account of some other Sugababes currently using that name, they’ll have to think of something else to call themselves thanks to Buena’s previously reported trademark application only entitling her to use ‘Sugababes’ on stationery and other paper-based products. Sebabagus has quite a nice ring to it, particularly if they decide to move into black metal.

Sadly though, a metal rebirth seems unlikely, given reports the reformed Babes plan to work with pop production types Xenomania. But they may well turn out some inventive pop, which would be nice. No deals have been signed yet, but talks are under way and are apparently progressing in a promising manner.