The Bat's song "The Orchard" is NPR's song of the day for 23rd of July...described as "Perhaps the record's greatest moment is its closer, "The Orchard," in which plaintive strings meld with plucky guitars as wistful hope burns off a mist of gloom"

The Bat's excellent album 'The Guilty Office' was released on Hidden Agenda records in the USA in June, and since then they have picked up some excellent reviews all over the shop...

They have also released a split 7" single with Australian band Songs with The Spring Press

Pitchfork: "The band hasn't tinkered with its signature chiming guitars and surging straight-ahead rhythms. But why fix a formula that works? From melodic, bobbing lead "Countersign" to bucolic closer "The Orchard", Office is a comfortable, comforting listen, wonderful in its very familiarity." (7.5)
Agit Reader (interview): "Stuck away at the bottom of the world could be an advantage."
Popmatters: "Over seven full lengths, the Bats have not only perfected their own melancholy sound, but they've remained a vital and strikingly consistent pop band. One listen to The Guilty Office makes that clear."
Prefix Mag: "The Guilty Office also shows a willingness to expand things a bit."
Big Takeover: "This is definitely an album that rewards repeated spins."
Washington City Paper: "Few can work a Velvet Underground riff as tenderly."
Flavorpill/Flavorwire interviews Robert Scott.
Blurt Magazine: "Simple riffs, angelic harmonies & dreamy atmosphere."
Dusted: "Across 26 years and seven albums, the Bats have been quite consistent. Each tune has a crisp beat driven by the unstoppable rhythm section of Paul Kean and Malcolm Grant, an economical guitar melody by Kaye Woodward, and a sweet-sad lyric delivered in a matching voice.... [The Guilty Office] renders the familiar in sharper detail."
All Music Guide: "Songs that burrow into your consciousness and settle in for a long visit."
The Times UK: "A perfect example of old-school melancholy indie pop."
Maximum Ink: "Shimmering indie innocence swung around frenzied, art-punk thunder."
Uncut Magazine UK: "Defiantly lo-fi romanticism."
Mojo Magazine UK: "Byrdsian chimes and the freewheeling grooves of the VU's Loaded."
Aversion: "Straightforward songwriting executed with amazing subtlety."
Sounds XP: "Indiepop heaven"
The Line of Best Fit: "Like folk rock played in a charged atmosphere."

The Bats release their album The Guilty Office on Mistletone in Australia this July and play their first shows in six years over there

MELBOURNE: FRIDAY 7 AUGUST @ Northcote Social Club w/- Crayon Fields + The Twerps. Tickets $25 +BF on sale now via the box office or phone 9486 1677.

SYDNEY: SATURDAY 8 AUGUST @ Hopetoun Hotel w/- Crayon Fields + Songs (trio).
Tickets $25 +BF on sale now via Moshtix.

If you live in New Zealand you might have heard it already...! But either way you can vote for the Bats album "The Guilty Office" in the USA's Magnet Magazine poll asking "What album are you most looking forward to in the second half of June?" poll

Go on - give The Bats a vote...