
#37 – St. VincentFruit Bats
Tripper
Sub Pop
Aug 04, 2011
Fruit Bats
“For Christ’s sake, get these snakes off of me,” begs Eric D. Johnson, the lead singer of Fruit Bats, on the first track of the veteran folk rock band’s new LP. A reasonable request.
The paranoia continues, albeit against a snappy AM Gold beat, with “You’re Too Weird” (“I’m the only one who ever believed in you”), as Johnson and company spin out the same twirls of melody on Tripper that made their past four records memorable. Keyboards become raconteurs, narrating a concept album based on a doom-tinged road trip through America: “Heart Like An Orange” wanders into pastoral Dylan territory, and “Wild Honey,” a tribute to late Chicago-based songwriter Diane Izzo, courses like a slow-dripping descent into melancholia.
Johnson—who’s also currently putting in time as a member of The Shins—keeps the Bats’ sound relevant the same way he always has: crafting songs that are sharp and to the point while avoiding the tweeness that saddles some of today’s folk bands. Even “Tangie and Ray,” whose protagonists recall a hipster version of Mellencamp’s famous Jack and Diane, comes off sounding fresh.
“She should dance if she wants to dance,” Johnson wails on standout track “So Long,” perhaps finally taming his cognitive dissonance. No argument here. (www.fruitbatsmusic.com)
Author rating: 7/10
Average reader rating: 9/10
Current Issue

Issue #70
Nov 18, 2022 Issue #70 - My Favorite Movie (Sharon Van Etten and Ezra Furman)
Most Recent
- 10 Best Songs of the Week: Geese, Hannah Jadagu, Lael Neale, Mega Bog, and More (News) — Songs of the Week, Geese, Hannah Jadagu, Lael Neale, Mega Bog, Caroline Rose, Bully, Westerman, Noel Gallagher, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Bernice, Wednesday
- 20% Off Subscriptions This Week as Under the Radar’s New Issue is Shipping Soon (News) —
- Great Expectations (Review) —
- Rianne Downey @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK, 23rd March, 2023 (Review) — Rianne Downey
- Premiere: Constant Follower and Scott William Urquhart Share Single “Watching The Black River Run” (News) — Scott William Urquhart
Comments
Submit your comment
July 20th 2017
4:02am
wh0cd590896 <a >FUROSEMIDE 20 MG</a> <a >Generic Viagra</a> <a >Buy Acyclovir</a>