Pumpkins Re-Forming At Coachella? Do You Care?

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 19, 2006 2:30PM

For the last month or so, we’ve been seeing rumors online about the “The Smashing Pumpkins” reuniting for Coachella. Forgive us if we’re having trouble getting excited about it.

We’re not sure how it started but it might have something to do with this post on Billy Corgan’s MySpace blog that said: “The surprise I have in store for you all will be announced soon enough…” Ever since then, the Pumpkins have been mentioned in almost every news story, blog posting, or LiveJournal comment that so much as resembled a discussion of Coachella. NME.com all but says it’s true in this story and Albumvote says they’ll be playing with Depeche Mode, White Stripes, Portishead and “The Stokes.” (tee hee)

For all of Corgan’s faults, we’ve always felt that Billy does what he does because he believes in the artistic purity of his work. But that’s getting harder to believe lately. Why undercut the impact of your solo album by announcing the reformation of your old band on the same day? It’s like stunt-casting an A-list star in a B-list television drama: you know they’re not going to stick around for a while so you don’t let yourself get involved in the storyline. Sales figures for TheFutureEmbrace record buyers didn’t.

With Corgan all but saying he’d re-form the Pumpkins with or without original members James Iha or D’arcy Wretzky, we wonder why he’d want to tether himself to the past rather than move forward with a new venture. Maybe it’s a little like wearing your lucky tie during your first day at a new job: a little something familiar to give yourself a boost of confidence. Clearly, there’s a desire for a new spin on the old Pumpkins as two tribute albums are on tap to be released later this year: one from Reignition Records due on January 31st and another in the spring that’s touted as a follow-up to the 2001 Ghost Children tribute album.

In any case, we’re waiting with open-minded skepticism to see what happens next. Then again, maybe we should just shut our mouths. Because anything is better than that Rob Thomas cover of “1979.”