Having quietly sold out five straight nights at London's Forum, Miles Hunt and co must be pretty chuffed that they agreed to reunite, six years after they bowed out at the Phoenix Festival.
To coincide we have the final purge through the Stuffies' recorded legacy - the 'odds 'n' sods' collection. And, as the new reissues of their four studio albums features appropriate non-album singles and B-sides, you'd think there wasn't a lot left in the vaults. The Stuffies were nothing if not prolific, though, as this double-CD set attests.
By making this a double the quality control does slip from time to time but the fact is that a lot of the band's B-sides are better than some contemporary band's A-sides. Hunt's acerbic lyrics have a bite and scowl matched by no-one save the younger Mr Gallagher.
And while the band, particularly towards the end, tended towards sub-Levellers folky fiddling, there is a punch and a drama in their best material few bands of the time equalled and, damn it, they pretty much invented that whole thing anyway.
Highlights include the 'paranoia mix' of fan favourite 'Circlesquare', the powerful 'Whites' and eight live tracks from a highly-charged gig in Leeds on what turned out to be their final tour.
It all ends with 'Dizzy' from their swansong at that Midlands airfield, with Vic Reeves singing like a man possessed accompanied by ten of thousands of people bellowing the band into history.
And, now, here they are again. For those about to frug - we salute you...
