The boys from Athens are working on their new album. They recorded up in Vancouver for a month or so, but last week held five nights of “working rehearsals” in Dublin.

These shows were not shows as Michael Stipe pointed out regularly from the stage. The band worked through 11 new songs, some of which sound fantastic. You can check some of them out here on YouTube.

The band also extended “olive branches” (a term used by long-time manager Bertis Downs) to the fans by playing some old stuff. And I mean old stuff. They played four of the five songs from Chronic Town (Stumble was the only one missing) at some point during the week. They played Second Guessing several times. They also added in West of the Fields, Harborcoat, Driver 8, So. Central Rain, Sitting Still, Disturbance at the Heron House, Maps and Legends, and Little America.

Check out their Web site for night by night details on the shows. They are back in the studio. I can’t wait until the release their album and tour again.