Barstow Bats have shared stages with Primal Scream, The View, Nile Rodgers, Admiral Fallow, Emma Pollock, Honeyblood & Model Aeroplanes, graced the main stage at The Wickerman Festival, headlined the world famous King Tuts in Glasgow & last year completed a hat-trick of appearances at Scotlands best new festival Electric Fields.
Led by songwriters Andy Rendall (guitar,vocals) & Steven McKie (guitar,vocals) & anchored by Barry Gemmell (bass,vocals) & Jonny Tait (drums), the recent addition of Kit Allen (keyboards) completes the sound & the Bats know exactly where they're going.
With all the steel you’d expect from a bunch of Scottish lads & a bohemian style that you perhaps wouldn’t, their sound has influences from across the last 50 years. Yet there’s an undeniable & brilliantly stirring 'Bats' sound – that ranges from the irresistibly catchy to the enchantingly dark and distant.
The group, who signed to independent label Smart Indie mid 2013, released their debut E.P in December 2013. Label owners, Phil & Rob: “We were drawn to the quality of the song writing. Lennon and McCartney is perhaps a bit over the top but we definitely saw something in the McKie and Rendall partnership.”
It’s a partnership that can be traced back to the earliest school days – an understanding that’s grown on scrappy football pitches, across pub pool tables and in smoky rehearsal rooms. Gemmell, Allen and Tait are the perfect musical foil.
Following a prolonged period of recording 2016 has already seen the release of 2 EPs, VIXEN & UNDER MY SKIN & now their debut album LYVER RIOTS.
"Barstow Bats are a band on the outer reaches of indie rock. They avoid the mediocrity that plagues many modern-day guitar outfits. Paranoia flecked soundscapes both violent & unsettling, with hooks & choruses to grab your attention & enough experimentation to keep it" ravechild.co.uk