Not only had the Bats been making records for over forty years when 2025’s Corner Coming Up was released, but their quality had never dipped even a little. Every record has featured intricate guitar interplay, chugging rhythms, melodic bass lines, Robert Scott’s wistful lead and Kaye Woodward’s supportive harmony vocals, and songs that don’t go for big gestures, instead zeroing in on the tiny moments that meld together to make or break a heart, or build a life.
This record has exactly the same amount of those things that all their previous records have, though now the specter of age has started to creep in around the edges. Not that they sound old in any way, but more that the weight of their catalog have grown to the point where they…