''At the National Grid'' is the sixth album by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

band The Bats, released in 2005. It was the band's first album for ten years and the first to be released on a New Zealand label other than

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringin ...

Recording and release

The rhythm tracks were recorded to analogue at The National Grid studio, in Christchurch, New Zealand. The tracks were then digitised with overdubs and mixing by

Paul Kean Toy Love was a New Zealand new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean. History Chris Knox was the band's front man and other members w ...

with input from the band. In New Zealand, the album was released on The Bats' own newly formed Pocket Music label. It was released in the US by Magic Marker, in Germany by Little Teddy (with different artwork and also on vinyl), in the UK by Egg Records and in Australia by Reverberation.

Reception

The album generally received very positive reviews. Tim Sendra at ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' gave it 4 stars, writing, "...having the group back at such a high level is as refreshing as a plunge into an ice-cold mountain stream." It had airplay on many college radio stations in the US, leading to an appearance at the 2006 SXSW Festival in Austin.

Track listing

Personnel

*Malcolm Grant - drums *

- bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals * Robert Scott - guitar, vocals, piano *Kaye Woodward - guitar, bass guitar, vocals Also credited: * Alastair Galbraith - violin (tracks 6 & 12) *John Kelcher - engineer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:At The National Grid 2005 albums The Bats (New Zealand band) albums Dunedin Sound albums