Times Change, Things Stay The Same

The Guilty Office
The Bats
Mistletone, 2009
4 stars

For a band to stay (for the most part) together for a quarter of a century is no mean feat, but for a band to do so and not try and re-invent themselves or move with the times is something else. The Bats, perhaps the best thing to come out of the ashes of seminal NZ post-punk band The Clean, have carved out such a career to date, and show no signs or stopping with The Guilty Office. The rustic, jangly pop songs on The Guilty Office are reminiscent of the band’s finest work on Daddy’s Highway and The Law of Things. String creepers climb up a web of steady, spritely guitar lines and restrained percussion, with Robert Scott’s simple, steady vocals bringing the whole thing to bloom. The songs are catchy – none moreso than Two Lines and the uptempo Steppin’ Out – but effortlessly catchy – these guys really know what they’re doing, and are doing it better than any of their current imitators. The album’s melancholy title track is probably the most striking cut, with a continual chorus of muted guitar lines forming a kind of gently-lapping pool for Scott’s words to bob around in. All up, the album is classic Bats, and a perfect entry point for the as-yet uninitiated. Instead of trying to keep up with modern musical trends (ahem, U2), The Bats have stuck to their guns and found the same trends coming full circle, trying to catch up with them.

Published in mX, Thursday July 30, 2009.