It’s been nearly a week since the Coachella lineup was unveiled, and there’s little elaboration on one of this year’s surprises: the unlikely reunion of the Violent Femmes for the two-weekend California festival this April, something once thought impossible because of the bad blood engendered over a Wendy’s TV commercial.
The original lineup of The Stone Roses will makes its U.S. debut at April’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, joining headliners Blur, Phoenix and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus a bill that also includes New Order, OMD, both Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Grinderman, Johnny Marr and more.
This week’s installment of The AV Club’s Undercover 2012 series — in which bands that show up at the site’s Chicago offices pick a song off a pre-chosen list to cover — finds Bay Area punk act Ceremony taking a stab at the Violent Femmes’ “Kiss Off,” off that band’s classic self-titled debut.
The AV Club recently launched Undercover 2012 — the third round in its ‘let’s have a band cram into a small, round room and cover a song off a list’ web series — and the latest clip finds Canadian dream-pop outfit Memoryhouse giving The Police’s 1981 hit ‘Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic’ a makeover.
This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes news about Ministry, They Might Be Giants, The Chameleons, The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Kate Bush, Social Distortion, Black Francis, Pulp and Dinosaur Jr — plus our Q&A with Howard Jones.
On Friday night at the MONA FOMA Festival in Tasmania, former Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie and an ad-hoc supergroup featuring The Dresden Dolls, former Bad Seeds multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish performed the Femmes’ classic 1983 self-titled debut album in its entirety.
This round-up of the week’s activity at Slicing Up Eyeballs includes news of The Wedding Present’s new album, plus headlines about The Cure, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, Peter Murphy, Close Lobsters, Hoodoo Gurus, Violent Femmes, New Order and more.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 