Eric D. Johnson's high-toned twang and songwriting chops have driven the warm, ambling, AM-radio-kissed folk rock of the Fruit Bats since he originally formed the group in 1997. He's the engine that drives the band train, its sole creative force, facilitator of their "breakup" in 2013, and then "reunion" a few years later. (I use the quotes because it's really just him being active/inactive under that particular moniker.) Last November, Johnson and company released a bouncy alt-country number about touring, "Getting in a Van Again"—their first piece of new music since 2016 full-length Absolute Loser—and announced that Fruit Bats had signed to Merge Records, with a record expected sometime later in 2019. by Leilani Polk