The
L.A. Times music blog Soundboard, inspired by Rancid's take on "Knowledge" during their show at the Henry Fonda Theatre, looks at the prospects of an Operation Ivy reunion. While Operation Ivy went nowhere fast when they were actually together in the late '80s, the group's popularity has risen significantly. Sure, it's probably not cool to consider such an event, but the band's members are all still alive (a significant plus) and performing music and a short Op Ivy tour would be a license to print money. I know the whole Rancid aesthetic has been to avoid the quick cash grab, however, the use of
a Transplants track in an ever-present Garnier Fructis ad would seem to indicate they might be a little more agreeable to such a thing. Singer Jesse Michaels apparently wrote on his MySpace page that he believed a reunion was unlikely, for both logistical and aesthetic reasons, but rock doesn't exactly have a retirement package, and a big check might help. I imagine the Coachella organizers have already made the phone call. [
LA Times]
Idolator
It's George Lucas day! And this time he's hanging out with the former Mr. Brody Dalle instead of Snoop and various members of the Diplomats: "Outside the theater [on Lucas' Skywalker Ranch] I see some guys with tattoos and skater-metal hair. It's the band Rancid, visiting the ranch scoring stage for a three-week album session. (The place has lot of music clients; the Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock, Faith Hill, Third Eye Blind and Kronos Quartet have recorded here, some looking for the perfect acoustics, others for a studio with no pubs in sight). As I pass Rancid, they are discussing the vagaries of punk-rock credibility while sipping tea and coffee drinks. I bite my tongue and keep walking." Good idea. Because it might not have actually been Rancid after all, and the Kronos Quartet ain't nothing to fuck with. [