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Following a 12-year hiatus, Bats & Mice are back with the forthcoming ’PS: Seriously.’ LP for Lovitt Records. An album for which the band - whose members have played in Sleepytime Trio, Engine Down, Denali, Rah Bras, Committees and Milemarker among others - had already laid down the basic tracks back in 2012. But then life happened and the album didn’t. Until in early 2023, when the band reconvened in Chapel Hill North Carolina's Warrior Sound to rework the original tracking and finish the 10-song full-length record ’PS: Seriously.,’ out May 31st via Lovitt Records (pre-order).
Today, we are very excited to share the excellent ‘Formed Around,’ a song that sees the the band taking their emo meets post-hardcore sound and holing up in the sweet space between bands like The Casket Lottery, Brandtson, Pinback and - maybe more unecpectedly - a bit like A Perfect Circle a bit as well.
"P.S. Seriously. evolved from meditative instrumental loops into anthemic songs about overcoming the everyday struggles we all face,” says the band’s Ben Davis about the album. ”We started working on this record just by playing along to a single guitar loop for an hour to jam out the direction we wanted to take. Just getting lost in a trance, living in the groove, and seeing what came out of it, rather than trying to craft some intricate song structure. The result is a straightforward heartfelt record that pulls no punches."
Bats & Mice is a band that has quietly crept through the music world. Three members of Sleepytime Trio originally formed the band: Jonathan Fuller (Engine Down, Denali), Dave NeSmith (Rah Bras, Committees) and Ben Davis (Milemarker, Committees). They began writing songs together in a new style that pursued their hardcore roots coupled with a more dark and winding sense of melody. However, the music still maintained the energy and drive of their previous efforts. This line-up produced Bats & Mice's first work, a self-titled EP released on Lovitt Records in the fall of 2000, to critical acclaim.
Friends Daron Hollowel and Ash Bruce from the band 400 Years joined for a stint in which 'Bats' wrote and released the full-length album entitled, Believe It Mammals, on Lovitt in the spring of 2002. That line-up toured to support the LP across the U.S., playing with Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 90 Day Men, Denali, and Gregor Samsa.
In 2004, Luke Herbst joined the band on drums, and the band toured Europe in support of a new EP titled A Person Carrying a Handmade Paper Bag is Considered as a Royal Person. Jonathan Fuller rejoined the group and helped write and record the Back In Bat EP, released in 2010.
Soon after, Mark Oates (from Wailin' Storms) took over the drums for Jonathan and helped write new songs as the band headed into the studio to record the basic tracks for an LP in 2012, which we ended up waiting for for 12 years.
The band will be celebrating the long overdue album release with a release show on June 1 at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina (buy tickets).
(photo credit: Kent Corley)
