Minisnap

Because Minisnap’s sound echoes that of New Zealand jangle-pop stalwarts the Bats, the connection is unsurprising: the project centers on Bats lead guitarist Kaye Woodward, who pens and delivers her own material while ensuring every configuration includes at least one other member of her longtime band. Woodward helped establish the Bats in 1982 and remained with them for nearly twenty years before seeking an outlet for songs not written by guitarist and vocalist Robert Scott, the group’s principal composer. Minisnap therefore made its first onstage appearance in late 2000, featuring Woodward on guitar and vocals alongside fellow Bat Paul Kean on bass. Laptop-generated beats initially handled percussion duties, but drummer Malcolm Grant, another Bats alumnus, soon joined as a permanent human replacement. The quartet’s earliest recording, the 2002 EP In My Pocket, was followed two years later by the brief March Hare. Marcus Winstanley of the Undercurrents was later recruited on second guitar, and this lineup produced Minisnap’s debut album, Bounce Around, released in 2008. Woodward, Kean, and Grant have continued their parallel work with the Bats, occasionally inserting Minisnap numbers into the parent band’s set lists.