One of the first questions after the Oasis reunion tour was announced last Fall was, “who’s in the band?” and many/most assumed that Andy Bell would pick up his bass guitar and resume the low-end duties he held with the band for a decade, up until their break-up in 2009 – a dissolution which, of course, paved the way for the ongoing Ride reunion.

I had assumed the answer would be yes, with Ride having already toured heavily last year to support Interplay and because why wouldn’t Andy want to collect a big, easy payday but now I’m not so sure. Ride have another set of tour dates for this Spring that keeps him on the road through May and last week, he announced a new solo record called pinball wanderer, due out on February 28. Granted, Oasis doesn’t retake the stage until July and those commitments only run through the end of November, but these are not the activities of someone who has committed to one of the biggest tours of the year. Or maybe they are, I don’t know anything.

The new record was introduced with a single and video, but curiously the song doesn’t feature Bell as either songwriter, singer, or even featured guitarist. It’s a cover of “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” by late 70s UK post-punk outfit The Passions, though renamed and with the atmosphere cranked up even higher, and features comedown queen Dot Allison on vocals and guitar from Krautrock trailblazer Michael Rother of Neu!. I’m fans of both Allison and Rother and the song itself, so I’m not complaining at all, but it’s a curious way to introduce the record.

Segueing to the original song, I only know the song because it was a featured lesson on Anyone Can Play Guitar, a tutorial channel celebrated and oft-referenced hereabouts. Normally I’d try to flip this into an Iterations post, but given that the only other noteworthy cover is by Foo Fighters and I don’t need any Foo Fighters in my life, I’ll just do this.