Matthew, the administrator of the SKYWAY mailing list, assures us this is not an April Fool's joke:
Color us fucking impressed: Original flannel gods the Replacements have recorded their first new material since 1990. According to a press release from Rhino Records, 3/4 of the original lineup (and the only surviving ones), Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars, reconvened last December in Minneapolis to record two new Westerberg-penned tunes, "Message to the Boys" and "Pool & Dive," for the upcoming Replacements compilation Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements.
According to Billboard.com, the tracks were recorded at producer Ed Ackerson's Flowers Studio. Josh Freese (Vandals, A Perfect Circle) played the drums; original drummer Mars opted out of stick duties in favor of recording backing vocals. No mention was made of former guitarist Slim Dunlap who performed with the band from 1987 to 1991, following original guitarist Bob Stinson's departure. (Bob Stinson died in 1995.)
[...]
Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? is scheduled for release on June 13, and will feature 18 classic tracks alongside the pair of new recording. It will also mark the second officially sanctioned 'Mats compilation since the group disbanded in 1991, and the first to encompass their entire career, as 1997's All For Nothing, Nothing For All only documented their later, less influential, years on Sire.
[...]
As if that isn't enough news from the long-dormant outfit, a recent Rhino podcast revealed details of a Replacements box set tentatively due out next year. Featuring a new interview with founding member (and current Guns n' Roses bassist) Tommy Stinson, the podcast unveiled plans for a multi-disc package that will draw from the band's entire back catalog, including a host of previously unreleased material, as well as a DVD of live performances.
New material? Great news. Boxed set? Awesome news. Now to complete the superlative trifecta, you guys need to put together another tour. Hit the club circuit (none of this 10,000 seat theater or festival crap) and thrash out "Bastards of Young" and "Alex Chilton" in front of a couple hundred sweaty, drunken fans. You guys are one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, time to remind people currently choking on shit like Fall Out Boy and the All-American Rejects of that fact.
And I know y'all don't remember that 1988 show you played at the Texas Union Ballroom any better than I do. Help a brother out.