Fruit Bats - Gold Past Life (Merge, 2019)

Fruit Bats
Gold Past Life
Merge
2019

Rating: 7.5 face sprinklers out of 10

I’ve been in on the Fruit Bats for a long time, from their second album “Mouthfuls” until now, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on what to expect when Eric Johnson goes into the recording studio – he’s a man who has a great ear for catchy folk-pop with a heavy seventies AOR vibe.  And that description would still fit much of “Gold Past Life,” their newest release.  But what I wasn’t prepared for was the title track, which sounds as if the folk Era Bee Gees were covering the disco era Bee Gees.  Fruit Bats have definitely had upbeat songs before, but not one that is quite so…dancey?  I don’t think that’s a word, but the point conveys.  If it were still the nineties this song would definitely get released as a single with dance mix versions on the b-side.  There are a few other songs that are a little more upbeat than typical Fruit Bats material, and the album as a whole is really terrific, but man…the falsetto that Johnson breaks out for the track “Gold Past Life” is the earworm of all earworms this year, and even though it’s only one-eleventh of the release, it dominates my thinking about the whole damn thing.  I guess if you’re going to have one song stand out so dramatically, it’s a good thing it’s damn enjoyable.