I became aware of Fruit Bats last year via their album, ‘The Ruminant Band’. I kind of liked the album, but after the first listen I figured their music would be best digested live, so I never really gave it a second chance. That is until this past weekend…I needed a refresher run before seeing them live @ The CrowBar.
Walking into the show mostly unfamiliar with Fruit Bats’ body of work (four albums) turned out to be a great thing. Without any real expectations, I simply sat back and enjoyed a night filled with lovely pop-folk tunes. The Bats started off the show in a nice little groove with “Primitive Man” quickly followed by “The Ruminant Band.” The five-piece also played a couple older songs such as “Canyon Girl”, “The Wind That Blew My Heart Away” and as per requested by the drunkard yelling in the audience, “Seaweed.”
Johnson was the only Bat on stage exuding any recognizable energy, in fact, I don’t think the bass player ever moved, he was like one of the Queen’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace. However, some of the Bats are multi-instrumentalists, which was nice because it enabled them to switch things up a bit on stage. For me, Eric Johnson’s twangy vocals ( especially on songs like “Flamingo”) and the delightful sounds of lap steel stole most of my attention during the set. Towards the end of the show the frontman confessed that he was losing his voice but they were going to try to push through it and play some more songs.
Overall, the night was filled with really good music, and, it made me want to revisit their ‘Ruminant Band’ album. Also, during the show I got a sneaking suspicion that the Fruit Bats would fit in perfectly at music festivals, such as the ones that pass through the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. They seem more like an outside band to me.
Take A Listen: The Ruminant Band from Fruit Bats
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Download: The Ruminant Band (Right click on link and select “Save Target As” in IE or “Save Link As” in Firefox)
