Fruit Bats on MBE!

I’ve been a huge fan of the Fruit Bats for many years and their last CD, “Spelled in Bones,” is one of my very favorite albums. It includes the swoon-worthy track “Earthquake of ‘73” which they played this morning on Morning Becomes Eclectic, along with an even older track from their album “Mouthfuls”, “When You Love Somebody,” which is featured in the movie “Youth In Revolt.”

Frontman Eric Johnson says the new album “The Ruminant Band” is a compendium of his life story from the time he toured in support of “Spelled in Bones” in 2005 through his time playing as a member of The Shins and Vetiver. Though it has been four years, he says they went by quick. Jason asked about his influences as a songwriter.

“A lot of the stuff I write is from the subconscious dream world of the radio from when I was a kid,” said Eric, adding that his parent’s favorite bands in the 70’s and 80’s had a big influence as well. “Sometimes I think that Fruit Bats is a subconscious amalgamation of Boston and Bread. But then I sort of came up in the indie rock world, so it’s put through that filter.”

We asked the band to record a special cover right after their live session. They said they started messing around playing this song and realized they knew it by heart, including all the words, and added it to their live playlist. Here’s their version of INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart.”

The full session is available here

RR