28 MAY 2014 ~ NZ ARTIST OF THE DAY: THE BATS
28 MAY 2014 ~ NZ ARTIST OF THE DAY
THE BATS
THE LAW OF THINGS
"Remarkably, despite long periods of inactivity, the band's original lineup of Scott plus singer/guitarist Kaye Woodward, bassist Paul Kean, and drummer Malcolm Grant remains intact. So too does that dreamy, disconsolate feeling that settles in whenever the Bats' best music takes hold and nimbly seeps under your skin."
pitchfork.com review of FREE ALL THE MONSTERS
How often is it that you hear of a band that has stayed together for over thirty years, with the complete original line-up of members?!
Such a feat, and the fact that they have been making remarkable music all along the way just adds to the wonder of THE BATS.
Although THE BATS first beginnings came about in Christchurch, they were part of the Dunedin music community of the 80s, whose sound collectively became known as the 'Dunedin Sound'. THE BATS have not only found an intensely loyal New Zealand following over the years, but have regularly toured internationally, guested with Radiohead and The Buzzcocks and count amongst their travels many tours of the United States (yes there is talk of more touring in the not so distant future!!) THE BATS are without a doubt amongst our top you-must-go-and-see-them-live-they're-awesome-and-you-will-never-regret-it bands.
The joy of researching many of the original Flying Nun bands is the discovery of all of the connections that exist between the bands. It doesn't take much reading or asking to discover that many musicians of the 80s era had many projects on the go... for example THE BATS founder Robert Scott is also a member of THE CLEAN. (For some extra historic NZ music learning check out Gareth Shute's book NZ Rock 1987 - 2007).
You might notice in our collection of BATS goodies that we stock a selection of original band gig posters... you might notice that we also have some original artworks that the posters were printed from... Robert Scott is responsible for many of these artworks, and artwork for THE BATS album covers.
