As reunion-mania rolls on through the times we live in, people often make proclamations as to which bands from the past they wish would reappear in the present. From my unofficial research (the status of which will likely remain that way), I have found that some of the most desired reunions would be Pavement, Charm Farm, and Hüsker Dü. While I cannot argue on the first two (hearing Perver in its entirety would be Heaven on a stage), the last one is a waste of a wish. Bobby M is on his own (vocoder-laced) trip these days -- plus, to put it bluntly, it would probably suck. Distortion-filled, punk-indebted rock is a young man's game, so why would you want the Dü around when you already have Parts & Labor at your fingertips?

Parts & Labor are performing music with vitality and spirit that resonates better in 2007 than Bob, Grant & Greg would be, and that is without the aid of performance-enhancing nostalgia, which is all too common in the reunion-lousy 21st Century. As an added bonus, you won't have to put up with all the old-timers from the ‘80s, which includes a reprieve from the liquor-filled rants about how they are a tougher breed because they didn't have the internet and things of that nature back then. Those Guitar Center employees can stay home and listen to Candy Apple Grey; fans of active bands can go see Parts & Labor and maybe pick up a few of their albums, including this year's Mapmaker (Jagjaguwar) and bassist/keyboardist BJ Warshaw's more electronic side project, Shooting Spires, which just released a self-titled LP on the P&L label Cardboard Records.

As insatiable music fan Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.) once said, "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

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