Fruit Bats – The Pet Parade
Merge Records – 5 March 2021
Eric D. Johnson and his Fruit Bats return to the fray with The Pet Parade. Having recently turned forty, he spends time looking back, while also looking forward. Johnson is in an interesting position, having started the band some twenty years ago, then putting it on hold to pursue a solo career that went nowhere fast, performing with The Shins and Vetiver, then releasing more music under the Fruit Bats moniker It’s been a winding road and along the way he became a member of Bonny Light Horseman. That one step has changed everything and nothing. Johnson is still the same person, although now he has a better appreciation for where he is in his career.
The title track refers to his upbringing in Lombard, a Chicago suburb, where people dressed up their pets and showed them off to their little piece of the world. The gently strummed guitars reveal a world that no longer exists, “Hello from here, to all you out there/ It feels like it’s been years.” Over the next 6:43, he looks back not so much on his upbringing, but where he is now with the gift of hindsight. In many ways, the track feels much like a Van Morrison piece with glorious repetition of keywords and phrases. A bold opening gambit performed perfectly with what sounds like horns providing a dose of magic.
Working with fellow “Horseman” Josh Kaufman, Johnson weaves a range of sepia tones that blend with vocal shadings to create a rich tapestry. “Here For Now, For You” is a beautiful love song woven with an acoustic guitar. Finally drums and electric guitar enter without really turning up the volume, just the emotions. It’s one of those moments when you realize how little you really need to create a song that goes deep to the core we all share.
With The Pet Parade Johnson doesn’t rework the past like Bonny Light Horseman, rather he creates moments filled with the glory of a world where you have an opportunity to find your own place. “Eagles Below Us” paints a picture of that place, one where you have the opportunity to look at the world from a completely different perspective. “So far out/ Only stars around us/ So far out/ Only eagles below us.” Filled with pianos, guitars and a multitude of voices, it’s a joyous reverie.
Perhaps the most revealing moment on the album comes on the final song, “Complete.” With just Johnson and his guitar he reveals the intimacy at the heart of a relationship. “And you’re trying to find peace/ or to paint a masterpiece,/ but it’s so hard to know/ if it’s shit or if it’s gold.” Yet he’s still there to add, “You shall be complete/ I decree it so.”
In speaking with Johnson recently (interview to follow tomorrow), as we talked about touring which is something of a dream these days he said, “I’ve never even really gotten up to buses. I’m still in a 15-passenger van. I’m driving half the time still after 20 years.” I hope he doesn’t get too comfortable with that, because with The Pet Parade, Fruit Bats may just find the kind of audience Eric D. Johnson has only imagined.
The Pet Parade is out on 5 March.
Photo Credit: Annie Beedy