For as long as I’ve been a fan of The Dismemberment Plan (since ’05 during my college radio stint), I’ve lived with the sad reality that the D.C.-based band was defunct. So when I stumbled upon east coast tour dates, specifically a January 30 performance at NYC’s Webster Theatre, I nearly shat myself.

Instead, I snatched up two tickets faster than you can say, “THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN IS BACK TOGETHER?!?!?!?”

Not quite. According to bassist Eric Axelson,

Dear Everyone,

It’s been awhile, no? We’ve been working on something for about two years now, and I’m not sure how we kept this under our hats for so long, but we did.

We’re reissuing Emergency & I on vinyl, and it’s coming out January 11th on Barsuk Records. The music was re-mastered from the original 1/2-inch tapes, keeping it analog every step of the way, and it’s going to be on 180-gram double-vinyl, four songs per side, with the fourth side being bonus tracks from hard-to-find releases. Being double vinyl, the packaging is a lovely gatefold — with the art in the right order — and will include an oral history of making the record, pictures from that era and of course the lyrics. Am I missing anything?

Right, shows. When getting together to sort out the re-issue, we got in the basement a few times to make noise, run through some songs, shake out some cobwebs. It felt good. So to celebrate the release of the reissue, we’re going to play a handful of shows. Unfortunately with everyone’s schedule being crazy, we only have time for a few on the East Coast. See the shows section below for more details, but we’re going to play in DC (twice), Philadelphia, Boston and New York just after the release. (www.dismembermentplan.com)

I don’t know what else the D-Plan could do to make 1999’s Emergency & I–released four years before the band called it quits–sound any more awesome than it already does, and vinyl is certainly an interesting choice. I curious as to what the “hard-to-find” releases will be- perhaps some tracks from 1995’s “!” ? (“ONWARD, FAT GIRL!”)

Since the time of Axelson’s statement, an additional Chicago show has been added to the tour and six of the eight dates have sold out. The band has also started a Facebook page and a Myspace page (sooo seven years ago), as well as a Twitter feed to keep fans updated on ticket sales and announcements.

While this is all amazingly exciting news to me and the rest of the Plan fans out there, besides the re-release and small tour the band’s future is uncertain.

“We’re not planning a new record,” said Axelson. “But we’re doing these shows and taking it day to day after that.”