Fruit Bats

★★★★ Sometimes A Cloud Is Just A Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits And Lost Songs (2001-2021) MERGE. CD/DL/LP

Casting light on a hidden gem of the 21st century cosmic Americana scene.

Kindred spirits of My Morning Jacket and The Flaming Lips, it speaks to the recent abundance of high-grade cosmic Americana that Chicago practitioners Fruit Bats aren’t better known. The group’s scattered oeuvre is granted an authoritative overview on this two-disc set, which begins its journey at the current day, working back to their origins. This approach offers a reverse-image of their evolution, from the accomplished, feather-light amalgam of classic rock and psychedelia achieved on new track Rips Me Up (Eric D Johnson’s star-gazing croak enriched by blossoming backing harmonies), to more bare-bones magic like the playful lysergic folk of Glass In My Feet from their debut Echolocation.

The standard of their warped, winning melodic contortions is commendably high throughout, though a disc of rarities turns up both diamonds (the galloping, urgent beauty of WACS) and doggerel (a winsome cover of Steve Miller’s The Joker).