NME: BATS live review

This ran in NME last week – the issue with Kurt Cobain on the front, though granted that doesn’t narrow it down all that much! He’s probably been on there 10 times more since he died than when he was alive. Anyway, here’s the review…

Photo from a different gig taken by Nay McArdle (I think) and nicked from the band’s MySpace.

BATS
LAVERY’S, BELFAST, 25/09/09

“BATS will destroy you!” they roar on opener ‘Death To Kent Hovind’, skewering the US creationist of the title with a short, sharp shock of bug-eyed righteousness. Then comes bespectacled Rupert Morris’ sneering pay-off: “The facts will destroy you.” The five Dubliners are science geeks and deliver explosive treatises on physics, genetics and superstition. Dry? Not a bit – it’s all declaimed over thrashy dance-punk, Converge-style hardcore and enough cowbell to keep Christopher Walken happy for months. Dance? Headbang? Do both and hope your spine stays aligned.

BATS review in NME

This is a bit of an ambition fulfilled, so I’m fairly chuffed. I got my first ever review in a nationally (i.e. UK) distributed mag this week when my review of BATS in Belfast was printed by the NME. Yay! It’s on p.49 of the current issue (Kurt Cobain cover) if you’re interested. I’ll post it up here at the end of the week when the new issue is out.

Oh, and as a bonus here’s their brand spanking new video. The album Red In Tooth And Claw slays: go and buy it.

SHADOW FUCKING from Digital Beast on Vimeo.