The Bats -- Spill the Beans

Spill the Beans is almost a great EP. Four of the tracks are really strong, but "Empty Head" just sounds like an REM ripoff that came a few years too late. The whole disc has that early-'90s college rock sound, but the Bats usually pull it off well. Spill the Beans is nowhere near as fun or interesting as Thousands of Tiny Luminous Spheres, but it's still enjoyable.

Now's as good a time as any to mention my love of the EP as a format. And for the short full-length. There's no need for most albums to approach an hour in length. Give me a solid 30 minutes and I'll be satisfied, unless you've really got something to say, in which case you should go for it.

Brilliant short album (that you should all own): Guitar Romantics by the Exploding Hearts.