MUSIC

Bristol indie rockers and busy-as live act Bravo Brave Bats sing about 11th-century suicide pacts and the tables at Renato’s. Adam Burrows goes out after dark.

Bristol has its guitar legions, but big chords and borrowed hooks are quickly forgotten. That crucial combination of inspiration and vigour doesn’t come along every week. It’s with this in mind that Venue heads to Renato’s to meet indie rockers Bravo Brave Bats, whose ‘Red’ EP has been on our stereo for weeks. Their music has a rare urgency about it: a sense that it's now or never. “We’ve all been in bands before,” says guitarist Hector. “We know how quickly things can fall apart.” Hector and Ieuan – the band’s singing drummer – previously art-rocked together in You & The Atom Bomb and The Playwrights, while bass player Dan came from RV Cartel. “All of those things you learn playing in bands,” says Ieuan, “we already know all of that. We know what we can get away with and what we can’t.” Dan adds: “This is the first band I’ve ever been in where everyone’s as up for it as I am. We’re always pushing each other.”

It’s the way this self-assured intensity combines with fine songwriting that sets the band apart. “The songs are written acoustically,” says Hector, “and then we vandalise them.” Ieuan puts it slightly differently: “Me and Dan are into writing pop songs, and Hector takes it somewhere else.” In terms of lyrics and melodies, Ieuan cites Paul Simon as an influence, while Hector “wants to drench everything in dark fucking noise, because that’s what I like”. He says his favourite bands are Mono, High Dependency Unit, Archers of Loaf, Mountain Eater – although Ieuan quips: “Hector’s main influence is The Edge.”

They always planned “to record three EPs before we thought about making an album,” says the guitarist – five or six songs at a time makes sense when they’re developing so quickly. They keep the momentum up by doing everything themselves. “We burn our own CDs, we hand-stamp the sleeves. We’re working with a great local label called Artscare who let us do whatever we want.”

One of the ‘Red’ EP’s highlights is ‘Well Well Well’, whose joyous guitar breaks and rolling drums soundtrack a doomed love story. “It’s about an 11th-century monk who threw himself and his lover down a well,” explains Ieuan. “He shouldn’t have been with her, and the Pope’s authorities were coming for him, so they made a suicide pact.” The chorus reflects that, even if they’re damned , “at least our bodies can embrace eternally”, and it seems apt to note that there is a romantic streak a mile wide in the Bats’ songs. “That’s initially what hooked me in,” admits Dan, “the romantic element, and the sense of telling a story.” The band’s lyricist sounds slightly conflicted on the subject. “There’s a temptation to shy away from that sort of thing and leave it to the boy bands,” says Ieuan, “but to say ‘we’re not dealing with that because we’re a rock band’ is self-defeating. Music is about touching people’s emotions.” “At the same time,” adds the singer quickly, “we’re not trying to write power ballads.”

The ‘Green’ EP – released on 1 April – has an even stronger sense of purpose than their debut. “I think there’s been a bit of maturing between the ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ EPs,” says Ieuan. “It’s more of a band record. The songs on the new EP were written with all three members in mind.” There’s a grim determination about Ieuan’s characters this time, from the exhausted Tour de France competitor on ‘Pedalling’, to the half-drowned protagonist of ‘A Hymn’. If there’s a theme, it’s finding the strength to overcome doubt, as summed up in the barked refrain – “I hope hope springs eternally” – of the thunderous closing track, ‘Boys (Heart) Me’.

“It’s a post-break-up song,” says Ieuan, “when you don’t get the girl you really want – that kind of empty feeling you get.” Unexpectedly, it turns out that the song was inspired by the very watering hole they’ve brought Venue to tonight. “Hector asked me to come out drinking when I was a bit down and we ended up in Renato’s. It ended with me and Hector standing on these two tables singing ‘Coo Coo Caroo’. If there’s one significant place mentioned on that record it’s the tables we’re sitting at now.”

The third record – "it will probably be purple" – will be out in September. Meanwhile, the Bats are fast building a reputation as a live band with Hector, in particular, widely recognised as an unstoppable force on stage. Right now, they just want to play, everywhere. “We do every show we can,” says Ieuan. “If you play to five new people, it’s worth it. Promoters put pressure on you not to gig too often because they’re worried that you won’t bring all your friends, but fuck ’em. Everyone’s worth playing to.” Bravo to that.

BRAVO BRAVE BATS LAUNCHED THE ‘GREEN’ EP (ARTSCARE RECORDS) AT THE LOUISIANA ON FRI 1 APR. FFI: WWW.BRAVOBRAVEBATS.COM

FOR A REVIEW OF BRAVO BRAVE BATS 'RED' EP CLICK HERE AND FOR LIVE REVIEWS CLICK HERE AND HERE

Copyright Adam Burrows 2011

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