Gang of Four Reunite, Plan January Tour!

Rejoice: The rapture has arrived for those unimpressed by the arrival of The Rapture! The original Gang of Four lineup-- Andy Gill, Jon King, Dave Allen, and Hugo Burnham-- has announced a string of January shows in the UK, officially marking (fanfare, please!) THE REUNION. Though Gill and King reformed temporarily in the early 90s for a couple of okay records and some victory-lap tourin', the classic GoF quartet hasn't graced a stage since 1981. There's no word from bandleader Gill's camp yet about a U.S. tour, just five Brit dates to whet yer appetites. Observe:

01-23 - Manchester, England - Academy
01-24 - Leeds, England - Leeds University
01-25 - Bristol, England - Academy
01-27 - Birmingham, England - Academy
01-28 - London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire

Most GoF obsessives are understandably thrilled by this news; others remain skeptical, including a few random fans of garage-punkers The Futureheads, despite the fact that Gill produced the band's 2004 debut record. (Andy's also worked with Killing Joke, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Michael Hutchence.) "NOOOOOO," declared Southern Matt, a poster on the TheFutureheads.com forum. "More old gits return to ruin the legend and all my ideas of what they once were. I pray that I never see a single picture or hear a single note. I hate reunions." When someone pointed out the relatively un-embarassing Pixies 2004 juggernaut, he added that caveat that "they were never really lookers anyway, so the oldness didn't spoil the memories."

Still: What the fuck? Was Gang of Four not thee most anti-capitalist band on the planet? How will they sing those lines and still sleep at night? And will they make it through all this ungobbed? We at Pitchfork will dutifully keep you abreast.