"Everyone's jumping on the hipster hippie train," one commenter said of KEXP's recent session with The Bats. The irony, of course, is that the New Zealand band has been on that train, if not leading it, for more than 30 years. It's no surprise that Brooklyn's Captured Tracks label is reissuing LPs from The Bats' label, Flying Nun, as many of today's acts have borrowed heavily from its jangly pop sound.
What is surprising is that the group never managed to follow its influence with any significant touring in the U.S. Finally, about a year and a half after The Bats' most recent album, Free All the Monsters, the band made its first stop ever in Seattle to play an intimate, charming set. Watch the band perform the new record's title track on this page.
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