Sub Pop Records

Marram sez: I´m against the depersonalizing of listening to music. All these digital formats do not do any more than eliminate the... (on The Gutter Twins have a new EP! )
Jason sez: I jest. For you losers - Gone for Good by The Shins For all others - I'm putting my money on... (on A Form of Paying Attention February 2010 )
Jason sez: Archive this shit, SP! (on Pandering to the Locals January '08 )
Jason sez: liquid utopian vision liquid utopian vulva liquid utopian vagina liquid utopian venereal liquid utopian vivacity You see where I'm going with this--I'm talking about love--l-u-v (on Pandering to the Locals January '08 )
nosferatu_d2 sez: I agree with Jeff and I want to get it too. Someone nicked my copy years ago. I used to... (on Sub Pop Invents the "mp3" )
jeremysexytime sez: Pencils In The Wind - Flight of the Conchords. So magical.. so meaningful.. the song of love.. (on A Form of Paying Attention February 2010 )

In this often reflexive and world-weary era of popular music, there seems little room for unabashed wonder, or joy without suspicion. Some regrettable fear planted within each of us around the 7th grade or thereabouts still makes it hard to dance, hard to hold hands, hard to say “I love you,” at least without a quick caveat or escape route at the ready. Over the course of three records, the last two on Sub Pop (2003’s Mouthfuls and 2005’s Spelled in Bones), 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. Consider the title: it’s no coincidence or shortcut that the name of the second track was plucked to represent the album as a whole. “Band” is the operative word here, as the Fruit Bats lineup has expanded to five, who in turn expand the sonic scope of Johnson’s songs to include the barn-floor stomp of “The Hobo Girl” and the Fleetwood Mac-esque shimmy of the title track. On a recent message to fans on the band’s website, Johnson promised on behalf of the Bats, “We are going to choogle for you.” And while the potential for chooglin’ has always existed in some form all the way back to Johnson’s earliest 4-track experiments, The Ruminant Band sees it flower in full.

Now ponder the…