Album Review: Bats - The Sleep Of Reason

Ireland is, at this point, a fairly prolific purveyor of engaging, innovative and largely underappreciated math rock. Bands abound with upbeat, noodly and complex melodies and rhythms, jagged stop/start motion that perplexes in its seamlessness, and an underlying, buoyant sense of fun. But make no mistake – although Dublin five-piece Bats are a product of this esteemed pedigree, they are not a “fun” band. Their songs carry an aggressive post-punk edge not found in your everyday Cast Of Cheers or Marvin's Revolt track. And they're nerdy. Yes, an element of geekdom should shine through in math rock, but Bats are, like, really nerdy, what with their predilection for singing about science and shit.

On their stunning follow-up to 2009's debut full-length, Red In Tooth And Claw, Bats are thankfully uncompromising in their extra-esoteric approach to an already esoteric genre. Opening track, Emergent Properties (other titles include Stem Cells, Heat Death and Luminiferous Aether – that science thing wasn't a joke) is one big crescendo that leads into the first track proper, Wolfwrangler, which seamlessly moves from chug-a-thon to funk-steeped rock-out and back. The album's standout, the meaty, churning diatribe of Astronomy Astrology, encapsulates every lyrical and instrumental aspect of what makes Bats so special, including a rhyme involving the word “erroneous”, which is just… well, beautiful.

If the sleep of reason brings forth monsters, as the excellent title track and the painting from which said title is drawn suggest, then The Sleep Of Reason has done its job because, right through to the conclusion of ten-minute epic Terrible Lizards, it is simply crammed full of the most ferocious kinds of aural beast.