Five reasons Operation Ivy should reunite right now (and one reason why not)

Last night I caught the first of six consecutive Rancid shows at the Fonda, on which you can peruse a windy opinion here. But one of my favorite moments from the set was when they slyly covered Operation Ivy's "Knowledge" and sent the crowd into paroxysms of glee.The endurance of Op Ivy in the punk consciousness is pretty astounding -- I'd wager a sizable portion of Rancid's fan base was born after Op Ivy broke up in '89, yet every Warped Tour and trek down Hollywood Boulevard yields more and more T-shirts and jacket patches of the leaping ragged hat guy.It got me thinking how completely awesome and relevant it would be if Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman found Jesse Michaels and Dave Mello and made one goodwill victory lap. It won't happen, especially because of Rancid's long-awaited new record, but here are some reasons why they should. 

1. Ska is back (sort of)

Tom Breihan made the excellent point a while back that Vampire Weekend's most efficient ripoff was not of King Sunny Ade or any actual afro-pop, but of Operation Ivy. It holds up: "A-Punk" is pretty much "Sound System" with better microphones and worse lyrics. Locally, the Aggrolites and Ozomatli have become L.A.'s de facto house bands, and Dub Club and Punky Reggae Party are constantly blowing up. Even Bad Brains is back together playing the old jams, and Lee Perry made a record with Andrew W.K. and the drummer from Lightning Bolt. There's a big interest in off-beat guitars (or synths) and beats right now, and that could be helped only by an adamantly crossover band like Op Ivy coming back and touting their influences.

(Also, I don't want to hear from 6,000 15-year-olds telling me how ska never went away. You can't convince me.)

2.   The political climate is ripe for it.

There's a hot market for themes of hope and post-racial unity (however vague that idea is) these days, and Op Ivy was on that boat early. "Unity," "Vulnerability" and "Take Warning" put the same kind of urgency into cultural reconciliation that Barack Obama does and would probably find ready ears in the same crowds. Plus, nobody knows how to write or play seriously politically charged music these days, and Michaels' spittle-flecked howling still managed to be righteous while defying cliche. 

3. Tim's writing like Lint again.

Rancid's self-consciously brutal 2000 eponymous album was a bit of a washout, so Tim Armstrong went back to his original drawing board. 2003's "Indestructible" was, for the first time, an openly personal record inspired by his painful breakup with Brody Dalle, and his solo record was some of the breeziest and poppiest ska he's written in ages. The older he gets, the more he's interested in melody and open space, and it's funny how much of that was hinted at in his first band of note.

4. It's reunion season.

I don't need to recap all the old dudes currently making the rounds plying the alt- hits of yesteryear, so let's leave it at that. Kevin Lyman probably couldn't whip out his checkbook fast enough to get Op Ivy to headline Warped 2009.  Instant sellout every date and infinite merchandising possibilities. Heck, along with the first Green Day album, they've practically subsidized Lookout! Records for years.

5. They could get away with it.

The problem with reunions is that the current incarnation so rarely lives up to audience's memories of the actual thing. But who on Earth saw Operation Ivy live? A few hundred kids at Gilman St. 20 years ago? The band exists in a kind of hazily fabricated collective memory in the punk world, so no one has anything to compare it to. As long as Michaels brings at least a B-game onstage, everyone goes home exhilarated to hear those songs again. And it's not like he totally vanished into a Jim Morrison vortex: He's been making unassuming reggae records as Common Rider for some time now. People really, really love this band and want to interact with it in person.

But the Big Reason Why Not: It admits the unspoken.

Rancid's a great band with some essential singles and one perfect album.  That said though, I think everyone involved still carries a sneaking sensation that behind that scrim of bass-less mixing and tape-slamming vocal mixes lies the frightening yet uplifting late '80s-early '90s punk band that Green Day tried to be and that Bad Religion was too erudite to be and that NOFX was too drunk to be. Rancid's a fine approximation of it, but Op Ivy was truly onto something different -- young yet studied, evocative yet anxious. If "too much attention unavoidably destroyed us," as Armstrong says on Rancid's "Journey to the End of the East Bay," it was to our loss as future fans.

-August Brown

Comments

[chris anthony]

you are absolutly right! while rancid has had ups and downs in the last ten years op ivy's relavance has steadily increased. so while the punk politcal voice has been largely silent of late op ivy could fill that void. and the warp tour? I think you're underestamating the age of many op ivy fans they could do cochella or lollapolooza or some reunion of that magnitude and trust me all the nostalgic thirysomethings would show up.

[Aaron]

please get back together operation Ivy.........that's a dream concert to go to

[Krista]

that would be the most wonderful thing ever. please make it happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what about other great punk ska bands that followed? rudiments, link 80, suicide machines, the impossibles?

[chris]

Oh and Aaron down there ... The original singer nick traina of link 80 is dead and so are a few of the impossibles.

[Jake]

Link 80 and The Rudiments both have members who are dead. I know the Link 80 tried to go on after the death of thier singer but it wasn't the same. I am glad that Jesse Michaels is still recording even without Op Ivy. We would all love to see it but we all know that it probably won't happen

[sam]

haha. yeah, WHAT ABOUT the rudiments, link 80, blah, blah, blah.

are they still relevant? does anyone care?

okay, a few people do still care about the suicide machines -so what?

also, we need to work on your use of the word "great." if you're using it to describe link 80, then i'm not sure you know what it means.

p.s. at least the assorted jelly beans are back together. that's something, right?

p.p.s. as far as old gilman bands go, i'll take crimpshrine over op ivy and day of the week.

[tim armstrong aint punk]

tim armstrong is a tool.

[Tristan]

When you bring up that only a few hundred kids ever saw Operation Ivy in the first place that totally hit home man. You are so right this wouldnt be a reunion of a band that everyone had seen a million times and wouldnt go away in the first place. Them getting back together for a tour would be a gift to punk rock and everyone who never got to see them and experience the unity live. I don't want to hear any more crappy cover songs I want the real thing! And yeah with our political state right now Operation Ivy could really get punk rck back where it should be... pissed off but full of hope.

[sir jorge]

Are you kidding? 1 perfect album? What a backhanded compliment to give what you call "punk revivalists" !

[Bill]

An amazingly well written article. One of the only articles on this topic that I've actually agreed with the points made. We've all been hoping that Jesse would someday give us all the OpIvy experience that so many of us missed out on, but every time I think of how awesome it would be, I feel horrible over the fact that it would be destroying something beautiful. We would be bringing something sacred, pure, young, and free back into a world of the Stone's 20th reunion concert and the resurfacing of New Kids on the Block, where they would undoubtably get lumped into the same "money hungry reunion" category, even if that is not the case. As much as I want to experience the energy of OpIvy, I take warning to how much their legendary status would be diminished if this actually happened. Lets keep them alive through their music instead, a place where we can all go and no one will be turned down because the ticket price is too high or we were unfortunate enough to not get tickets before they sold out; a place of perfect unity.

[matt]

In 2006, in san francisco, rancid played an op ivy cover and jesse sang it for them, thats as close as we get

[Tom]

These are not good reasons. Fail.