Every once and a while we get word of an indie or alternative band that has returned to the studio following a long hiatus from recording. In some cases, they are reuniting to record a song, an album, perform a reunion show or go back on tour. Whether the motive to get back to the music is driven by money or art - or both - band reunions are something that always get people's attention.

This particular playlist mix, Way Back Now, is all about bands who've returned after many years apart to make music again.

After releasing their first indie album back in 1994, Columbia, South Carolinian band Treadmill Trackstar signed to Atlantic Records in 1996 only to be dropped following the release of one LP, Only This. The band toured the U.S. from 1991 until they lost their contract in 1998, at which time they went their separate ways to start families and pursue other interests.

Then, in 2008, after a ten-year hiatus, the band reunited to begin work on their latest LP, I Belong to Me, released on January 1, 2010 via their own label - Your Name (Here) Records, funded with money raised from fans and other contributors.

Trendmill Track Star has proven that a decade hiatus from recording together seems to have only enhanced their maturity and abilities as professional musicians, while still maintaining the edge and original sound that built their relatively small, but loyal, following from the early 1990's to their disbandment in 1998.

Angelo Gianni, singer, songwriter and guitarist for TMTS, wrote in a recent email:

"Some promotors asked us to get back together for a charity concert in 2007. After some serious grumbling... we did. We couldn't believe how fun it was to be playing music together again, so we thought it would be even more fun to make a new record! So we sent emails out to all of our old fans asking for money to record with, and suddenly we had 13 thousand dollars."

We think the results are something that people who have never heard of the band - and those that might remember them from long ago - would enjoy.

"I Belong To You" - Treadmill Trackstar from I Belong to Me (2010)

"Hands Off" - Treadmill Trackstar from I Belong to Me (2010)

Treadmill Trackstar official web site

Treadmill Trackstar on MySpace


The seminal punk/grunk 80's band Flipper returned in 2009 with their first new album - Love - in 16 years! Together with Love, the band also issued a live album, titled, Fight. Back in the early 1990's, Kurt Cobain was a Flipper fan, wearing a self-made Flipper T-shirt on the booklet photos of Nirvana's In Utero, and again during the band's first Saturday Night Live performance.

During all of these years, the band has gone through a number of line-up changes. Founding member and original vocalist Ricky Williams was ditched by the band before they recorded their first record. In 1987, vocalist Will Shatter overdosed, and bass player John Dougherty overdosed in 1992, not to mention a number of other band members who returned or were replaced over the years.

The track, "Good Child", features Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, who also briefly toured with the band in 2008. Domino Records reissued four of the band's early albums in 2009.

"Good Child" - Flipper from Love (2009)

"Scentless Apprentice" (Nirvana) - Flipper from Smells Like Bleach, A Punk Tribute (2001)

Flipper on MySpace


The story of the post punk band Ring of Truth began decades ago when the legendary UK DJ John Peel enthusiastically debuted the single, 'The Horse' - "a small-town documentary set to a rock and roll backdrop," in the words of Everett True.

Inextricably linked with Sound Archive Recordings, Ring of Truth returned all these years later with their 2009 debut album, Everything’s The Same But in a Different Place, a sonic journey from the fire of the Bowery and London art-punk though post-punk Manchester and Glasgow to post-millennial New York and Scottish angular diaspora.

Everything’s The Same But in a Different Place contains all of the trappings that any post punk, John Peel fan could possibly want on one record. Matt Shimmer of Indieville, wrote: "The entirety of Everything's the Same But in a Different Place is an exercise in exuberant Brit-pop, with a clear eye for music of yore."

"Well, I Walked" - Ring of Truth from Everything’s The Same But in a Different Place (2009)

"Smile" - Ring of Truth from Everything’s The Same But in a Different Place (2009)

"The Horse" - Ring of Truth, single release (1986)

Ring of Truth on MySpace

Labels: The Jealous Sound, Treadmill Trackstar, Way Back Now