Fruit Bats

Fruit Bats are an indie folk band from Chicago, United States, active since 1997. The group is centred on songwriter Eric D. Johnson and has had a changing line-up over the years. Current members listed include Graeme Gibson, Eric Johnson, Frank LoCrasto, Thom Monahan, Jason Toth and Dan Strack.

Origins and early formation

Fruit Bats begin as a side-project after Johnson, Dan Strack and drummer Brian Belval come together out of the short-lived Chicago group I Rowboat. When I Rowboat splits, Fruit Bats becomes Johnson’s main project. Their early development is supported by Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella of Califone/Perishable Records, who help spur the recording of the first album.

Albums and label history

The band’s debut album, Echolocation, appears in 2001. After touring with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Modest Mouse and The Shins, Fruit Bats sign to Sub Pop in 2002 and release Mouthfuls in 2003, with Gillian Lisee joining the line-up. Their third album, Spelled in Bones, follows in 2005 after the band relocates to Seattle.

The next records include The Ruminant Band in 2009 and Tripper in 2011. In 2015 the group reforms and releases Absolute Loser in 2016 on Easy Sound, a Los Angeles-based label. Fruit Bats sign to Merge Records in 2018 and release Gold Past Life in 2019. Their 2020 album, The Pet Parade, is produced by Josh Kaufman, Johnson’s bandmate in Bonny Light Horseman.

Later work and related projects

Johnson joins The Shins in 2009 and also plays with Vetiver after the release of Spelled in Bones. In 2013 he announces that Fruit Bats will dissolve, and the band plays a farewell show in Portland that month. The following year Johnson releases an album as EDJ. In 2018 he forms Bonny Light Horseman with Josh Kaufman and Anais Mitchell.

Fruit Bats release a full-album cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream in 2021. A double-disc retrospective, Sometimes A Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs, follows in 2022, bringing together material from across the band’s career.