The Bats stick with the jangly pop formula that’s served them so well

New Zealand veteran indie popsters The Bats have taken the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to heart. The quartet’s line-up hasn’t changed since they got together in 1982,so it comes as little surprise that the jangly pop formula that has served them so well for more than three decades continues to drive their sound. The band’s ninth album and the follow-up to 2011’s highly acclaimed Free All the Monsters offers no radical change of direction, although, as the guitars chime over a pleasantly chugging rhythm section, the simple, sweet folk melodies bear a richer melancholy these days. And the songs remain as catchy as hell. Frontman Robert Scott still sings in his effortlessly warm and laconic style but, even though the album bristles with nostalgia, The Bats never sound like they are marking time. They continue to fly.