Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band

What this video is

Released August 2009, 'The Ruminant Band' arrived at the apex of a late-aughts indie folk and Americana revival, sharing cultural space with Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut (2008), Band of Horses, and Iron & Wine. Fruit Bats, led by Eric D. Johnson on Sub Pop Records, occupied a warmly melodic niche within this movement. Johnson had spent the intervening years as a member of The Shins, lending the band elevated…

Why it matters

Represents the mature phase of the Sub Pop indie-folk boom of the mid-to-late 2000s. Fruit Bats' pedal-steel-driven alt-country sound on this title track exemplifies the acoustic/electric Americana hybrid that defined a generation of Pacific Northwest and Midwest indie artists. The video's…