The Bats

Formed in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the early 1980s, The Bats are part of the indie rock movement associated with the Flying Nun label and the Dunedin sound, blending chiming guitars, pop melodies and a subtly melancholic atmosphere. Centered on Robert Scott — who is also active in The Clean — the band's stable core of Kaye Woodward, Paul Kean and Malcolm Grant has given The Bats a collective identity that has changed little over the decades. After several EPs in the mid-1980s, The Bats released the album "Daddy’s Highway" in 1987, which established a formula combining jangle pop, concise songwriting and supple rhythms, continued on "The Law of Things" (1990) and "Fear of God" (1991). The discography continued in the 1990s with "Silverbeet" (1993) and "Couchmaster" (1995), before a studio return marked by "At the National Grid" in 2005 and a series of albums in the early 2010s. The Bats alternate between recording and touring in New Zealand, Europe and the United States, maintaining an approach focused on guitar–bass–drums songs with spare arrangements, where indie pop, melodic rock and folk echoes intersect.