Age Of Electric Members Writing Together, May Reunite

Some old habits really do die hard.

The heady days of Chart magazine's "AOE Watch" are far in the past, and yet we still couldn't help ourselves when it came time to interview Ryan Dahle about the upcoming release of his solo record, Irrational Anthems.

We just had to ask the former Age Of Electric guitarist and songwriter if there was any chance of a reunion. After all, other Canadian groups from the mid-'90s Can-rock golden days like The Watchmen and Econoline Crush seem to think it's a good idea, so why shouldn't the Kerns and Dahle brothers join in the fun?

"Todd [Kerns, AOE singer] and I have been writing songs," admits Dahle. "I don't know if I've told anyone that. We've written a bunch of songs and I really like them. They're really strange, so it's not like it would be commercial, huge, or anything, but I think it's really interesting music."

Bassist John Kerns hasn't worked on the new songs just yet, but Kurt Dahle managed to add some drums to one song during some downtime while he was recording with The New Pornographers.

Ryan Dahle remains cautious about the long-term implications of their collaboration, but he's not opposed to the idea of a reunion, either.

"We've talked about it, but I don't know if it would make sense, because we're all busy doing other things," he says. "I'm not against it, so you can mark me down. I'm in."

Right now, the other thing that's keeping Dahle busiest is his solo project. Irrational Albums, his first album in five years and the first ever to be released under his own name, is out Aug. 25.

The disc is quieter than his previous output, but it's a smart pop record that should be more than worth the wait for fans of both the Age Of Electric and his other project, Limblifter. Dahle hopes to follow up the release with a tour in the fall.

"We have a couple tentative things, which I don't know if I should mention, because I'm a little bit superstitious," he says. "But one of them is Pop Montreal on October 1, and we might try to set dates around that."