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In this week’s dead tree version of DC9, Darryl Smyers checked in with Fruit Bats leader Eric Johnson about a number of things, but mostly about how his own band differs from the other bands he plays in, a list that includes Vetiver and The Shins. And Johnson’s thoughts on the matter?
“What I do in Fruit Bats certainly doesn’t sound like The Shins, Part
II,” Johnson says. “But I know that there’s simply no way around people
thinking of Fruit Bats as a Shins side project. So far, surprisingly,
such talk has been less than I thought it would be.
Mostly ’cause, he’s right, the two bands’ sounds really aren’t all that similar. Fruit Bats’ sound is far more Americana-rooted than The Shins’, for one. As Darryl puts it quite well, Fruit Bats’ songs “walk the line between folk and rock with literate self-confidence.” Not that The Shins’ don’t, but theirs is a less rock-influenced sound, I’d say.
Regardless, Fruit Bats’ latest, The Ruminant Band, isn’t a disc to sleep on. And with the band stopping through for a performance tonight at The Loft, neither should its live show. Of course, if you can’t make the Loft performance this evening, you’ve got another option: At 7 p.m. the band will be performing a free in-store gig at Good Records.
See you there.
