Wednesday, July 01, 2009

LIGHTS A-GLOWIN'


When you think about it, the whole Dunedin Sound thing was pretty amazingly improbable. A bunch of insanely talented songwriters in one tiny yet picturesque corner of the world who, by sheer force of talent, invented their own genre and revolutionised indie rock? Why the fuck isn’t this a movie yet? The other amazing thing about these dudes is their consistency. Last month, we got a new single from The Clean, which isn’t about to blow any minds but got stuck in my head pretty bad for a few days and is unquestionably classier than anything that any other band pushing 30 is releasing right now. Well, almost any other band. And now The Bats are back with the first single from their ninth album and seriously, it couldn’t be dreamier. Gently lilting, country-tinged indie pop that recalls Yo La Tengo in their quieter moments and keeps its copious vocal harmonies and fiddle melody subtle. Nice.



[The Bats MySpace]

[The Guilty Office out August 1 through Mistletone]

2 comments:

andrew g said...

i REALLY don't know if you could say FN *revolutionized* music in any real way...

not to say that none of it is any good - just that it was pretty much a product of the circumstances of the times. very of-the-time influences (VU etc.) filtered through a sort of DIY aesthetic that punk brought.

but then, i've never liked the bats either so what do i know?

max said...

maybe revolutionise is too strong a word, but i think it's fair to say that the dunedin sound played an important role in the shaping of modern indie rock.