The Bats: The Guilty Office

THE BATS: THE GUILTY OFFICE (2008)

1) Countersign; 2) Crimson Enemy; 3) Broken Path; 4) Like Water In Your Hands; 5) Castle Lights; 6) Two Lines; 7) Satellites; 8) Later On That Night; 9) Steppin' Out; 10) The I Specialist; 11) The Guilty Office; 12) The Orchard.

A little bit more rock-oriented than its predecessor, as if Scott himself had realized that At The National Grid took things way too far in the rock-a-bye-baby direction. More electric guitar, louder drums, and even a whole new fast-tempo song (ʽSteppin' Outʼ) ensure that The Guilty Of­fice does not really intend to put you in a stupefying trance — it honestly wants you to think of it as a collection of individual pop-rock songs. With that in mind, let us see how many autonomous, self-contained, and positively stunning tunes Scott has managed to come up with this time.

ʽBroken Pathʼ could be one, creating an atmosphere of moderately deep gloom with its network of clean jangly, dirty distorted, and wailing psychedelic guitars. ʽTwo Linesʼ could be another, but not because of any vocal hooks — its main point of attraction is the guitar vs. strings battle in the coda, a very straightforward one, where baroque chamber atmosphere is pitted against purple haze and we may want to pick a favorite. ʽSteppin' Outʼ is not only fast, but brings back the idea of the «Moody Melancholic Melody» that the lead guitar plays in tandem with the rhythm strum, best represented on Couchmaster.

And this is pretty much it: even these particular descriptions are piss-poor, and the rest of the songs is thoroughly undescribable in layman terms. At this point, even switching from acoustic to electric guitars for volume, sharpness, and energy considerations does not help — the songs lack distinctiveness and may only be appreciated for the general style. I have nothing further to say.

Check "The Guilty Office" (CD) on Amazon
Check "The Guilty Office" (MP3) on Amazon