The Bats - By Night (1984)

When the Clean’s Robert Scott and Toy Love’s Paul Kean formed the Bats with Kaye Woodward and Malcolm Grant in 1982, the feats of each musician already warranted inclusion in New Zealand’s great pop canon revolving around Dunedin’s venerable Flying Nun imprint. But, Scott and Kean were pop journeymen simply not content with a career eulogy ending with tenures in their respective pioneering groups. The Bats’ debut EP By Night was released in 1984, two years after the group was formed, and it wasn’t until 1987 that their classic Daddy’s Highway LP arrived. The years between releases are telling. The Bats maintained an admirable allegiance to the original line-up, meaning that when a member’s obligations demanded absence, the group was unofficially put on hold. For over 30 years now, the Bats maintained this original line-up and ascended to flag-bearing champions of the so-called “Dunedin Sound”, across a remarkably consistent, albeit sparse discography, despite being from Christchurch.

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