One of the trustiest acts in the business, Eric D Johnson'sFruit Bats have been at it for a good while now, with their earlier albums exemplary of where Sub Pop was headed in their Shins-Band-of-Horses era. These days, Fruit Bats are with Merge, and Eric is one third of the glorious country-folk outfit Bonny Light Horseman, but today we're celebrating the simpler times of 2009, with a 15th anniversary edition of Fruit Bats' beloved fan favourite The Ruminant Band. Very much worth a revisitation, this album stands the test of time, proving the point of the original Pitchfork review which said that the record "only gets more rewarding as it settles in". - Flying Out
Fruit Bats celebrate the 15th anniversary of their acclaimed 2009 album The Ruminant Band with a new, limited-edition pink vinyl pressing!
Over the course of the band's prior three records, Eric D. Johnson's Fruit Bats have looked for ways to file down the cynical edge of modern life and found many. Using bright melodies, defiantly major-key chord structures, natural imagery mixed with the occasional blazing insight and tender observation, the Fruit Bats have never shied away from darkness, but more uncommon in this day and age, they've refused to shy away from light. With The Ruminant Band, this tradition continues in characteristically rich and involving fashion. From the barn-floor stomp of "Hobo Girl" and the Fleetwood Mac-esque shimmy of the title track to the propulsive yet spacious '70s country-rock jam "Tegucigalpa" and the parlor piano soft-shoe of "Flamingo," The Ruminant Band makes good on Johnson's recent message board promise: "We are going to choogle for you." Though he has spent the handful of years between Fruit Bats records playing with peers as heralded and forward-thinking as Vetiver and The Shins, the songwriting and production on The Ruminant Band mark a further crystallization of Johnson's own melodic instincts and overall vision over the past near-decade, abetted by brothers-in-arms who know both bluster and restraint.
Tracklist
1 Primitive Man 2 The Ruminant Band 3 Tegucigalpa 4 Beautiful Morning Light 5 The Hobo Girl 6 Being On Our Own 7 My Unusual Friend 8 Singing Joy to the World 9 The Blessed Breeze 10 Featherbed 11 Flamingo
