Concert Review: Fruit Bats’ Landfill of Joy at Royale

Last week, Fruit Bats (the band, not the mammal) performed songs from their latest album, The Landfill, at Boston’s Royale. While the album’s name might suggest a dumping ground for waste and vacuous matter, The Landfill serves as a profound meditation on the complexities of connection: waiting, wanting, longing, and missing. Fruit Bats’ singer Eric D. Johnson counts The Landfill as the band’s thirteenth studio album since their inception in 1997.

Fruit Bats has been Johnson’s personal project for more than a quarter of a century. Unlike the expansive sounds that erupt from The Landfill, Johnson has also created stripped-back solo albums, such as Baby Man (2025), under the Fruit Bats moniker. While atmospherically, Landfill and Baby Man are dissimilar (frankly, Baby Man is a bit of a downer), Johnson calls the releases “twin records.” He considers the latest album an expansion of Baby Man into a “full band record”.

Johnson has been well acquainted with the indie music scene since moving to Chicago as a teenager. He taught alongside Andrew Bird at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago while touring during his early career. Johnson came up in the time of Pavement and Modest Mouse, his interest piqued at the emergence of indie rock. In the mid-to-late 2000s, the Fruit Bats singer had a five-year stint in The Shins. In interviews, Johnson reflects on his career, calling his comprehensive musical journey “a happy accident.”

Fruit Bats’ most recent album was recorded over four days at Bear Creek Studio in Washington. Johnson calls The Landfill the band’s most collaborative work yet: ten songs that capture both the feeling of a warm hug and of a nest blown away in a gust of wind. In their lyrics, the songs on The Landfill encapsulate a sordid longing, but accompanying instrumentals transmute this emotional depth into a dynamic musical celebration.

The audience at Royale welcomed Fruit Bats with celebratory “yeehaws” and their undivided attention. Johnson engaged with the audience, candidly confessing about his strained voice and experiences playing classic Boston venues like The Middle East in the decades prior. With candelabras decorating the stage, Johnson and his band charmed the crowded room with fan-favorite hits like “A Lingering Love” and new gems off The Landfill like “Think Aboutcha”. The feeling in the room was one of joyous gratitude, from both the band and the audience.