The Bates were a German punk band, founded in Eschwege, federal state of Hesse, Germany in 1987. The name referred to the character Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's film, Psycho.

The Bates were mainly known for their cover versions of songs made famous by other artists. On each of their albums they published at least two such cover songs alongside original compositions. Because the cover versions were particularly well received, The Bates released the album 2nd Skin (2000), which featured cover versions of songs taken from various genres. The Beatles ("Helter Skelter"), Rolling Stones ("Out of Time"), The Cure ("Wailing Wall"), Sailor ("Glass of Champagne"), Aneka ("Japanese Boy"), and Eiffel 65 ("Blue") were covered in the album in typical Bates style.