CD box set containing three re-issues of New Zealand indie-pop pioneers The Bats ranging from early original recordings to previously unheard studio outtakes.
Featuring tracks from 1984 to 1988, this compilation shows a group that has gone on to influence countless bands around the world with their jangling guitars that express both an optimism and a deeper melancholy.
All presented in a 3CD box, including all original art work, extended liner notes, photos, posters, and flyers from the time.
Review:
Along with the Clean, the Chills, Tall Dwarfs, and other standout artists
on the Flying Nun Records roster, the Bats were one of the best and brightest in
the first wave of New Zealand indie pop pioneers who would define the
much-treasured and highly influential “kiwi pop” sound with their jangly,
melancholic pop tunes and rough-hewn bedroom production. Less angsty and more
tender than many of their contemporaries, the Bats' early tunes were more
softhearted and inward-looking, calling on misty memories and thoughtful
reflections as they slowly cultivated the output of their catalog. The
band's trajectory came in fits and starts, with the Bats forming in the last
hours of New Year's Eve in 1982 and taking five years to realize their first
album before immediately going on hiatus. Though they would go on to record
countless singles and multiple albums and EPs, and tour the world over as the
decades spun on, their unhurried pace was always a sign of their contemplative,
filler-free songwriting process. Bats, Vol. 1 collects the earliest of the
band's output, including their magnificent 1987 debut, Daddy's Highway; its
eventual follow-up, 1990's The Law of Things; and Compiletely Bats, a
collection of singles, EPs, and random tracks recorded between the
band's 1982 founding and 1990. This time capsule of the band's early sound
is essential listening for anyone enamored with kiwi pop or even early indie
rock in general, as the Bats in their earliest form set the stage for the
countless aimless and sad-hearted indie songwriters who would follow in their
footsteps. While the first two albums alone are worth the price of admission
(Daddy's Highway in particular capturing a gorgeous snapshot of indie rock in
its infancy), the collection is filled out with previously unheard demo
recordings and studio outtakes, and the earliest tracks from Compiletely Bats
define the shambling brilliance of kiwi pop that was never quite touched by
anything since.
All Music Guide – Fred Thomas