We’re only two weeks in, and 2012 has already got off to a funny start. We’ve had some drab news; The Human Abstract have faded away quietly at the height of their power, along with the likes of The Carrier, and Oceano; the latter due to the departure of vocalist Adam Warren amongs other things. Similarly, Killswitch Engage are without a frontman as Howard Jones confirmed he had left the band, although they are looking for a replacement, who may or may not be Jesse Leach… We also had last week’s announcement that absolute metal legend  Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath being diagnosed with early stage lymphoma. Although we remain hopeful, in the vein of 2010′s Nergal crisis, nothing is assured.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The past few days in particular have seen a couple of rays of excitement, firstly in the news that post hardcore legends At The Drive-In have made good on a statement made by Cedric Bixler-Zavala in 2009  that the El Paso quintet could once again play together, and secondly with the word that Swedish hardcore punk heroes Refused are also back and scheduled to play Coachella in April, Way Out West in August, and possible other shows beyond to give The Shape Of Punk To Comeits proper dues. This got me thinking; what with Paul Scholes re-signing for Manchester United, Thierry Henry returning to Arsenal on loan, and my hamster from when I was thirteen clawing its way free of the shoebox in which it was buried to terrorise the cat, it seems like 2012 could be the year of the grand return. Whether or not you think this is a precursor to the actual dead walking the earth, and thus a sign that the Mayans were right and we’re all going to die up by December 21st, you have to admit that there are a few more legends that need to resurface to make the end of the world party worth attending. Behold my humble wishlist:

At The Drive-In

First up, the mercurial masters of nineties post-hardcore, who as I said above, reunited this week after eleven years away. It’s a fucking good start, I tell thee. If you do the math, you’ll know that At The Drive-In were last seen in 2001. March, to be exact, off the back of a six year recording/touring cycle that culminated in a world tour. By that time they were fucking tired of each other, and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez were on some serious drugs by this point. Things were not happy. In this video, filmed for the renowned …Later With Jools Hollandshow in the UK in late 2000, you can see the sheer passion with which they played, but also how much they clearly despised each other by this point. On the one hand you’ve got guitarist Jim Ward and the rhythm section soldiering on, playing the fucking song…and then you’ve got Cedric leaping around, throwing around chairs and not bothering with half the songs, and Omar at times barely playing his own damn song…but then pulling it back at others. Absolutely electric stuff, and for me 100% what At The Drive-In were about.

Bonus shot: Robbie Williams’ face at having to follow ‘One-Armed Scissor‘.

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