> Brilliant! Argghhh, hang on, damn! We're on the radio on Sundays, what time are you on? > Yes, we'll get a plug up on line in a bit and you've given me an excuse to play you on the radio (we have an Organ shows on Resonance 104.4 FM on Sunday nights) Is there a BTTP website or anything to link up a new story to - we'll get all the dates up  -Sean O

Hi Sean,
Bloody good to hear from you - long time no see and all that... The BTTP web site is www.backtotheplanet.com. It's always out of date because we are truly slackers. Paradise Gardens web site is www.paradisegardens.org.uk. We're also due to play Shambala (www.shambalafestival.org), Endorse-It-In-Dorset (www.lgofestivals.com) and Solfest (www.solwayfestival.co.uk) this summer, before we wheel ourselves back to the old folks' home. It's really nice just to be playing: it's come as a bit of a surprise that anyone remembers us at all :) Cheers feller, Frags

Back To The Planet, on stage 6.45pm, May 25th, Victoria Park, London E3 - Paradise Gardens web site is www.paradisegardens.org.uk. Oh look, Katy Carr, Alabama 3...

RUSH DRUMMER DIES - Drummer and founding member of Canadian prog-rockers Rush, John Rutsey, has died, aged 55. Rutsey played with the band from 1968 to 1974, appearing on their eponymous debut album. However, he was forced to quit due to a lifelong diabetes-related illness. Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson said that Rutsey had become a fitness fanatic after leaving the band, and that the pair had remained in contact until the 90s. According to his family, via an obituary printed in the Toronto Star, Rutsey's death was caused by "complications from his lifelong affliction with diabetes". 
 

The band are also doing some US shows and for these shows, Jeff Pinkus will be on bass and Teresa Taylor (along with King Coffey) on drums. This is the rhythm section the band had for most of the 80s and marks the first time this line up has played together since 1989. Paul Leary has prior commitments and unfortunately can't play the European dates (he will be on stage for the New York City show and possibly more stateside). “However, fear not, our European friends. Joining the band onstage for all shows in the US and Europe will be The Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars. This mob of teenage geniuses will blow your mind, forming a virtual Butthole Surfers Orchestra when they play with Gibby and company. Check back for more confirmed dates/ticket info (more European dates announced soon). - www.buttholesurfers.com

and if that's not enough 90'sness for you

NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN will reform this September for a one-off show in London to mark their 21st anniversary. It will be the first time Jonn Penney (vocals), Gareth "Rat" Pring (guitar), Matt Cheslin (bass), Alex Griffin (bass) and Dan Warton (drums) have performed together since their split in 1995. The band will play the Astoria on 6 Sep, with tickets going on sale this Friday. They are also rumoured to be working on new material.
 

MESSHUGGAH HIT THE UK - Swedish metallers Messhuggah will return to the UK this September to promote their eighth album 'Obzen'. Here are the dates: 4 Sep: Brighton, Concorde 2, 5 Sep: London, Astoria 2, 6 Sep: Newcastle, Academy, 8 Sep: Glasgow, Garage, 9 Sep: Manchester, Academy 3, 10 Sep: Sheffield, Corporation, 11 Sep: Birmingham, Academy 2, 12 Sep: Bristol, Academy, 13 Sep: Nottingham, Rock City

LESS THAN JAKE For Camden Barfly and such. The Skasters have announced that they will be doing two UK gigs in June, prior to the release of their new album, GNV FLA  - Fri 13th June LONDON, The Barfly and Sat 14th June SHEPTON MALLET, NASS Fest – Main Stage (headline). Tickets for the Barfly show cost £12.50, subject to a booking fee of £1.25 per ticket plus a transaction fee of £1.50, plus a pound of blood and the shirt off your back and will go on-sale Monday 5th May via www.artistticket.com / 0871 230 0333. Tickets for the NASS Fest are on-sale now at www.nassfest.com. Less Than Jake will also be returning to the UK in August to headline the Lock-up Stage at the Reading Festival on Friday 22nd, and they will be the penultimate band on that stage at the Leeds Festival on Saturday 23rd. The new album is set for release on Monday 23rd June, GNV FLA is named after LTJ’s hometown of Gainesville, Florida, and marks the debut of their first new material on the new self-owned and controlled indie label Sleep It Off Records, which is licensed to Cooking Vinyl in the UK.  Just last month, the label re-released four of the band’s early titles with expanded DVD content – Pezcore; Goodbye Blue & White; Losers, Kings and Things We Don’t Understand and the DVD The People’s History of Less Than Jake – the Organ review of those albums/DVDs is here

“Embarking on a whole new journey as independent artists in control of their own destiny, LTJ have decided to revisit their roots not only in spirit (and the album title) but also in their music.  A return to form that could be called the ‘traditional’ Less Than Jake sound, complete with their trademark bouncy ska grooves and horns galore.  GNV FLA comes full circle with the band’s beginnings, when they were scrapping up money from gigs to augment their Pez collections.  Recorded at Atlas Studios in Chicago and produced by Matt Allison (Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, The Falcom), this album is a surefire testament that, once again, proves why LTJ have one of the most durable and faithful fanbase that stretch from the top of Canada to the bottom of South America and spans both sides of the globe. A sobering look at the realities of Gainesville in particular but with a universal eye to the everyman living in every small city in the US in these down economic times, GNV FLA by no means is a depressing record, but instead a hopeful and positive one.  By pointing the microscope on folks like single mothers, drug dealers and other common city characters, LTJ celebrates their lives and pays tribute to those who are forgotten”. - www.cookingvinyl.com / www.lessthanjake.com / www.myspace.com/lessthanjake