The Fruit Bats recently earned a mentioned in Rolling Stone as a “band to watch” and it’s no surprise. Shaped around the multi-talented singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist Eric Johnson and a rotating cast of band members, this group out of Chicago is ready to put folk-pop back on the map. Yes, there have always been folkies gigging around since the 1960s, but very few have managed to scramble beyond local coffee houses. No such worries for the Fruit Bats though. With a clever mix of familiar pop blended with the more quirky aspects of old school folks, they are ready to kiss Juan Valdez and his coffee beans “buh-bye”.
Album pays homage to its folk roots on some of the earlier tracks. Track “Born in the ‘70s” has the same sort of melancholy beauty that was often found in tunes during the singer/songwriter movement of the day. It manages to put together such images as “taking gulps of big blue sea” and “sands of time stuck in your shoe” without sounding too hippy trippy. The song “Canyon Girl” has a more upscale folk/rock beat that makes it soar like some of the more experimental Beatles tunes.
The best songs off of Spelled In Bones though are a pair of eccentric tunes. “The Earthquake of ‘73” is an amusing, if slightly twisted, look at a long-term love affair. While most love songs might mention a first meeting, first kiss etc, the Fruit Bats are looking for more interesting and intimate moments such as losing a tooth and falling from bikes. It’s one of the fist songs in long time that dares to detail the real sort of specific aspects of a relationship. “Traveler’s Song” also offers up its own moments of bliss, but in this case, tinged with apathy. Johnson laments that you “can’t win a fight with the forces of gravity” as he spins his yarn about the loneliness of the road and how a traveler’s song can often be an only friend to those who live their lives constantly in transit.
Johnson and his fellow Fruit Bats seem to run out of steam near the end of the album, but Spelled In Bones is still a great musical portrait of a band on the rise. Their tour is scheduled to begin in September so be sure to check your local listings! |