In the past year, many bands from the alternative scene have come back together, either with reunions, new songs or old members returning. For fans of all alternative sub-genres, the returns and reunions are being highly received.

For Blink-182 fans, the return of Tom DeLonge, the guitarist and co-vocalist, has been much awaited from the moment he and the band split ways in 2015. Soon before he returned, the band became cryptic, with their Instagram account suddenly being completely wiped, their website going under construction, and posters and billboards for the band popping up around the world. On October 11, 2022, DeLonge announced that he had officially rejoined the band. The band released their newest song, “EDGING” on October 14, 2022. It was announced that they would headline for 2023’s When We Were Young Fest in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

On May 12th, My Chemical Romance released a song titled, “The Foundations of Decay”. For fans, who were becoming restless after their much anticipated reunion was postponed three years due to COVID, the sudden release of the band’s first song since 2014‘s “Fake Your Death” came as a shock to everybody. Part of the shock came from the band releasing the song on a Thursday, with no prior mention of any projects before. Fans speculated that My Chemical Romance would release an album the day after, with the hope that it would be because of that day being a Friday the 13th. Unfortunately, they did not release an album.  

Keeping the When We Were Young Fest headliner streak going, Paramore announced that they were to be one of the title bands for the new annual festival. On September 28, 2022, the band released the song “This Is Why”, with the tease of an upcoming album of the same name to be released next year. 

On July 9, 2022, Rage Against the Machine played their first concert in 11 years. Unfortunately, the band announced they had canceled the European tour due to an Achilles’ tendon rupture injury that Zack de la Rocha, vocalist for Rage, got during a show. In early October, the band canceled the remaining shows of the tour due to the injury.

The Smashing Pumpkins, perhaps best known for their songs “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “1979”, revealed earlier this year their plans for an upcoming three-part album as the sequel to their 1995 album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The album was officially revealed to be titled Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts. Each act will be released separately, one in November of this year, one in this upcoming January, and the last in April of next year. 

Regardless of which alternative bands or sub-genres you like, there’s something for everyone. Feel free to wait for next year’s When We Were Young Fest by listening to new jams from all of your favorite artists.