Without formally acknowledging the departure of Kim Shattuck following the band’s fall European tour, the Pixies this morning announced her replacement for shows in North America, Europe and South America next year: Paz Lenchantin, who played in A Perfect Circle and Billy Corgan’s brief post-Smashing Pumpkins outfit Zwan.

Former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook continues his march through those bands’ back catalogs next year with the announcement today that he’ll perform the latter group’s third and fourth albums — 1985’s Low-Life and 1986’s Brotherhood — in their entirety at a pair of special U.K. concerts next September.

Mike Peters last week addressed his departure from Big Country, thanking both the band and its fans “for a wonderful four years” without offering any reason for his split with the reunited group — which itself only has revealed to fans that “Big Country and Mike will now be parting ways” as it continues on as a four-piece.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will return to North America next summer for a second round of dates in support of the band’s current album Push the Sky Away, a just-announced trek that runs from June 16 through July 31 and will bring the group to 15 cities across the United States plus four more in Canada.

Skinny Puppy will embark on a 29-date North American tour early next year dubbed “Shapes for Arms” in support of the band’s current album Weapon, a concept record described as commentary on “the concurrent glorification of the gun culture and simultaneous horror at the devastation guns can cause.”

The pleading must have worked: With Simple Minds having just wrapped up their first North American tour in 11 years — a short run of just seven dates this past month — frontman Jim Kerr says “there are already discussions taking place to hopefully bring Simple Minds back for more shows next summer.”

Long-defunct U.K. indie-pop outfit The Darling Buds will reunite for the second time in 20 years next spring for a one-off concert in London that’s being billed as “Pop Said… Again,” a reference to the group’s 1988 debut Pop Said…, which featured the singles “Shame On You,” “Burst” and “Hit the Ground.”