Good News, Confirmed: The Suspects Are Coming Back

In dates a bit further afield… I heard the rumor a while back myself (in the Press‘s own Music Awards coverage, I believe) that long-gone ska heroes The Suspects were reuniting, and not just for some one-off show like they’ve done the past couple of years.

I was a wee bit skeptical, so when rhythm guitarist/singer Bill Grady (he’s the one second from the end, with the beard & maniacal glint in his eye) emailed a short while back to get the word out that the ‘spects would be playing the Discovery Green Concert Series on Thurs., October 16th (all-ages, free, 6:30PM at — duh — Discovery Green downtown), I just had to hit him up.

His response: yep, it’s looking like it. And not only is the band re-forming rather than temporarily re-uniting, but there’s a good chance they’ll be writing some new stuff, which would be the first honest-to-God new Suspects music in what, a decade? Just thinking about it gives me a stupid grin, I swear. When pressed on whether the band will actually record any new songs, though, Bill said he didn’t know about a real-live studio album happening but opined that a live recording or a DIY deal recorded on Bill’s gear might be do-able. Damn; keeping my fingers crossed ’til October is gonna hurt.

(By the by, if you’re so damn lame you’ve never actually grabbed a copy of any of the band’s albums, they are now officially on iTunes, eMusic, & Rhapsody. Now you have no excuse. Hot damn…)