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I have to admit: I haven’t listened to the BATS since I worked in a record store in the early 90s, when we had their latest album in rotation. After hearing The Guilty Office, I’m smacking myself in the head for missing out all these years. The New Zealand quartet’s seventh album isn’t as jangly as I remember them being; it’s a moody proposition with songs that require multiple listens to sink in. That’s cool – records that require a bit of effort to appreciate are most often the ones with the longest shelf lives. And this is definitely an album that rewards repeated spins – leader ROBERT SCOTT carefully crafts his songs without allowing technique to overwhelm his finely attuned sensitivity. Allowing the substantial pleasures of the peppy “Steppin Out,” the winsome “The Orchard,” the mildly psychedelicized “Satellites” and the gorgeous “Castle Lights” to soak into the brain chemistry will give the spirit a warm glow that will massage even the hardest heart.
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