It's odd to have ten minutes to get your sound across, but
FM Bats want to make the most of these seven songs. "18 Is Dying" begins like a punk tune but singer Todd Jacobs gives it a bluesy feel that brings to mind bands like
the Black Keys and
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. After 30 seconds it blossoms into quasi-garage rock that ebbs and flows nicely. The number that is perhaps the most fleshed-out song has to be "All You Do Is Jerk," which sounds somewhat like
the Strokes if playing underneath famed New York nightclub CBGB's. Minimal but with a primal percussion that is quite infectious, guitarist Orlando Sanchez weaves some fine licks throughout. A heavy yet quirky track is also the best here as "Young Man's Glory, Old Man's Blues" veers somewhere between
Violent Femmes and early British metal acts like
Black Sabbath. "There's Only 1 Captain on This Ship!" is perhaps the coda to the prior track, fading in before gracefully fading out. Jacobs sneers and snarls on the elementary indie rock flavor of "Cat Brat's Theme" and also during the fleeting "Sinking Ships of the Adult Lips." While difficult to judge an album that is this terribly brief,
FM Bats seem to possess enough chops to even make this limited amount of time fly by. ~ Jason MacNeil