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THE BATS

Quick Links - CD Discography | Biogs

22 years; 6 albums; 4 world tours but only one line up, its difficult to start to write the story of The Bats. They have never achieved commercial notoriety but are known and respected around the world.

The Bats first gig was New Years Eve 1982 at the Empire in Dunedin . By 1984 they'd developed a strong following and were ready to record and take The Bats further afield. At that stage Flying Nun was a Christchurch based cottage industry. Recording was done on a shoestring budget.
Not long after their first EP, "By Night" was released they heard rumours that it was being played on Triple JJJ in Australia . An Australian tour soon followed.
Back in NZ they got on the Orientation Festival circuit which was great fun an brought huge crowds.

The first The Bats records, released on the legendary Flying Nun Records, reached great acclaim. The debut EP was followed up with the acclaimed ‘and here is.."Music for the Fireside" and "Made Up in Blue" (Flying Nun’s first UK release) EP's. The debut LP "Daddy Highway" (part recorded in Glasgow during a Scottish tour) followed in 1987 and eventually followed by 1990's "The Law of Things". These 2 albums fit well with each other. Songs like "Block of Wood" and "North by North" are classic The Bats. Little hooks, distinctive bass sound and rhythm. The Bats sound is unique, their own brand of part jangle, part chiming guitar. There is simplicity about The Bats songs. The trade mark thumpty dump bass line. The Bats rhythm is driving. The "Compiletely Bats" album compiled the 3 Flying Nun Ep's.

Between 1986 and 1994, The Bats visited North America , Europe and Australia several times. Toured with Television and The Wedding Present in France on Les Inrocutibles festival circuit, played 14 dates in USA with Radiohead and Belly, supported a supportive REM in their home town of Christchurch. While touring in the US The Bats recorded 2 more critically acclaimed albums. "Fear of God" (1991) produced by Nicholas Sansano (Sonic Youth, Public Enemy) see's crisp arrangements and buoyant tunes, matched by Kayes harmonizing and touches of viola."The Black and the Blue," "Boogey Man" and "Fear of God" epitomize all that is wonderful about the three-minute The Bats song. 1992 sees The Bats with another American producer, Lou Giordano (Sugar, Lemonheads, Goo Goo Dolls) and continues The Bats american years "Silverbeet" (1993) with its rippling guitar lines; find the Bats pushing gently on the perimeter of the sound of the preceeding LP.

1993 seen the Spill the Beans' "Under the Law" finds The Bats with a thicker guitar sound ]and points to the Bats' growing affinity for American indie-rock with the appearance of Superchunk leader Mac McCaughan's expressive guitar playing on “Empty Head,” one of the EP's five cuts.

By 1995, the Bats' sixth full-length album "Couchmaster", sees The Bats sound taken in a new direction"Couchmaster", recorded back in New Zealand and mostly self produced, found further acclaim and is actually a boundary-stretching breakthrough with a darker, contemplative, heavier pop, a sound more relient on textures and mood than melody. The various member of The Bats worked on other project in the second half of the nineties. The career retrospective "Thousands of Tiny Luminous Spheres" was released in 2000 and charts 6 albums and a collection of EPs. In 2003 The Bats toured again, and their latest CD was developed.

The Bats "At The National Grid" that's John Kelcher's studio where The Bats recorded the initial session - pretty much live. They then been overdubbed, editing and mixed at their home studio in Christchurch . Alastair Gailbrath added some of his distinctive eclectic electric violin, last featured on "Law Of Things" many years ago. Dale Cotton then added his mastering magic

The Bats are Robert Scott, Malcolm Grant, Paul Kean, Kaye Woodward

The Bats Interview | The Bats Article

Discography

The Bats At The National Grid Reviews

"At The National Grid hardly sounds like the work of a band emerging from a decade-long hiatus. After spending the prior 10 years defining the jangle wing of the then de rigueur Zealand pop sound, many assumed the Bats had quietly disbanded. Grid celebrates the virtues of patience. Most of its tracks sport the same folk-laced fireside charm as the Bats' earliest work, yet somehow sidestep rehash. Scott's and guitarist Kaye Woodward's voices have aged into wonderful harmonic foils, converting an early band weakness into a newfound strength. Importantly, Grid weaves in aspects of the dronescapes that marked a departure on 1995's excellent Couchmaster, offering relief from the upbeat 4/4 docket that at times nudged the Kiwis' mid-life outings toward sameness. During their respite, an import-only greatest hits package flawlessly bundled the Bats' indispensable highs. Improbably, At The National Grid holds up as a fitting companion piece. "- Glen Sarvady CMJ

"It’s been a strangely seismic year for the Oceanian music scene: The Go-Betweens launched one of their semi-annual reunions, the Tall Dwarfs mounted a U.S. tour, and a sadly truncated INXS attempted to renovate itself on network television. Seemingly popping out of nowhere, New Zealand’s Bats have returned, wielding their first album in a decade. The Bats At The National Grid is a bit of a shock, not because of any major musical changes (the band’s jangling purr remains intact), but because it sounds oddly contemporary—the kind of docile rock that would make Sub Pop’s post-Shins A&R team slobber. On tranquil acoustic numbers “Bells” and “Western Isles,” Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward’s voices fasten together beautifully, practically strumming the guitars for them; but when At The National Grid turns frantic (as on “Horizon,” the record’s best track), those same vocals turn defiant, backed by increasingly ramshackle fuzz-guitar asides. That the Bats can churn out such an alternately haunting and heartfelt collection in their 23rd year is a testament to their indefatigable skills. It’s also a good reason to harass them into getting together again before another decade passes" = Magent magazine

"The Bats' first album in ten years starts off perfectly with the low-key "Western Isles," with Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward singing delicate harmonies while the guitars gently hum behind them. It is a lovely welcome back, and not only do they pick up where they left off, At the National Grid may be their best album since Daddy's Highway. If you know your New Zealand pop or college rock history, that's really saying something. That record was a masterpiece of understated emotion that sounded completely unique and true. This record is lighter in tone, more cleanly recorded, and almost as powerful. The songs are perhaps the most diverse-sounding batch they have released yet, ranging from the slow-burning "Pre War Blues" and the noisy instrumental "Hubert" to the sweet-as-pie "Bells," the clattering indie rocker "Things," and the bouncy "Flowers & Trees." Of course, they all sound like the Bats, with Scott's fragile but forceful vocals, the jangling, intertwining guitars from Scott and Woodward, Paul Kean's melodic and up-front bass, Malcolm Grant's simple but rock-solid drumming, and — above all — poignant and lively songwriting. In fact, Robert Scott is at the top of his considerable talents here, crafting tunes that linger long after the record is over. Maybe that is one of the benefits of taking ten years off. Woodward's one song, the surging drone rocker "Mir," is a gem, too, and her vocal harmonies are as sparkling as ever. In fact, the whole band is as sparkling as ever, and having the group back at such a high level is as refreshing as a plunge into an ice-cold mountain stream. Indeed, after 23 years with the same lineup and after having taken ten years off, you would expect a band to come back and rest on its laurels (see Pixies, Dinosaur Jr.), playing the old hits to the faithful. Not the Bats. Thank Christchurch for that! " - All Music Guide Review by Tim Sendra

Other Reviews

"Only a band this original and timeless could have come from New Zealand in the 1980's, and their accessibility has always been as warm welcoming as a grandmother's hug, so just pick up Thousands of Tiny Luminous Spheres and feel it. - The Vertical Slum

"Couchmaster" is refreshing for its faint harmonies and unobtrusive fuzz-tone guitars. The result is moody, atmospheric pop that's considerably less depressing than this type of music is frequently accused of being" - punk rock academy

"The Bats have always had their own distinctive sound – simple jangly Kiwiana indie pop songs with lovely little hooks. one I can certainly get sloshed on".
NZ Musicians Magazine

"For over a decade, the Bats have been one of the handful of bands defining the "Flying Nun" or "New Zealand pop" sound, their body of work forging a consistent and original identity for both the band and its "scene." The Bats' salient features have always rested upon Robert Scott's carefully crafted songs, his sweet, nasally voice and a soft, billowy jangle, slathered across every Bats song like a heavy morning mist on the countryside; occasional glorious harmonies between Scott and bassist Kaye Wooward were like icing on the cake. But with Couchmaster, the Bats' sixth full-length album, they've finally taken their beautifully crafted sound in a new direction - a darker, more contemplative one, highlighting different aspects of their work. After a short, moody, instrumental introduction, the album kicks in with its first lyrics, "Spent the afternoon in bed/Trying to figure out what words you said" ("Afternoon In Bed"), bolstered by a soaring, almost Yo La Tengo-like guitar line and bursts of rumbling drumplay, - CMJ

"An album full of folky pop tunes to shiver your spine The trick of this album is that each song blends beautifully into the next, the stones , hazy guitars througout the album ensure that the laid-back tone is maintained from start tofinish These guys are a band ,that excists beyond musical fashions They don t need to try hard, because it s all there already Mellow, unfazed and totally at home" Hemisphere (NL)

CD Discography | Biogs