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The Law of Things is an album by the New Zealand band The Bats, released in 1990.[6][7] It was released by Mammoth Records in the United States.[5]

The Law of Things
Studio album by The Bats
Released	1990
Recorded	Sept-Oct 1988
Genre	Dunedin sound, Indie pop, Alternative rock
Length	38:56
Label	Flying Nun Records[1]
Producer	The Bats, Brent McLachlan
The Bats chronology
4 Songs (1988) The Law of Things (1990) Fear of God (1991)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[5]

The track "Smoking Her Wings" was released as a single, and the album peaked at #38 in the New Zealand charts.[8][9]

Production

The album was recorded at Writhe Recording in Wellington, New Zealand, toward the end of 1988.[10] It was produced by Brent McLachlan and the band.[4]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the album "monumental," writing: "Capturing all the hooky appeal and personal charm of their first records, it updates the recipe with seven years of instrumental mastery and superior sonics."[11] The New York Times wrote that "the production is raw; the song structures are almost self-consciously unsophisticated - just jaunty guitar riffs, roughshod 4/4 rhythms and, in the more aggressive tracks, base lines that rumble and swell and even drown out the other instruments."[12]

Track listing

Personnel

• Malcolm Grant - drums
• Paul Kean - bass
• Robert Scott - guitar, lead vocals
• Kaye Woodward - guitar, vocals

Also credited:

• Alastair Galbraith - violin (tracks: 1, 4 to 8, 12)
• Brent McLachlan - engineer, co-producer

References

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