Pavement, Oasis and the Ride Reunion

As you’ve probably heard, it appears that Pavement is set to reassemble for a series of concerts next summer. (Confirmed!) As anyone who knows me will tell you—and as I have written about at length myself—I like the band just a little bit. So this is exciting news.

And yet?

Marginally more exciting was the semi-recent news that Oasis has finally, benevolently broken up. It’s not that I would rather drive a railroad spike into my head than hear “Champagne Supernova” again, or that I put the musician brothers Gallagher on the same level as the comedic brothers Gallagher. No, the imminent demise of Oasis elates me because it guarantees something awesome: the Ride reunion is totally going to happen.

Ride, for anyone who somehow missed them, shot a burst of excellence over two underrated shoegaze-related LPs and four impossibly good EPs in the early 1990s, and a subsequent burst of mediocrity over two other albums, before breaking up in 1996. Here’s a good song that you will love:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1qcfXS-u0E

Andy Bell—who, along with fellow singer-guitarist Mark Gardener, was the driving force behind Ride—was hired in 1999 to be the bassist of Oasis. This was an annoying development for the admittedly small he-man-Ride-lovers-Oasis-haters club because it further diminished Bell’s incentive to engage in Ride-based activities. And since joining that band, he has resisted a full-fledged reunion, despite being somewhat open to the idea.

But now Oasis is no more. Which can only mean one thing: It’s so on. Please?

In the wake of the Pavement announcement, here’s an updated list of the six bands that I hope to see reunite before I die—which, if the first one happens, might be impossible, as I would surely have a heart attack upon hearing the news.

1. The Smiths

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63gug4yq9ks

2. Guided By Voices

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tikguGJKxo

3. Ride

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQA8Ztjzwfw

4. Soundgarden

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaglHQOgt8

5. Archers of Loaf

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QZIuP2T6B4

6. Kyuss

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciJoHpXikhY

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