The Bloodsugars
Tonight, indie-pop rockers The Bloodsugars will celebrate their album, ‚”I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On” release at The Studio at Webster Hall with Savoir Adore and Project Jenny Project Jan.
Melding inspiration from garage, new wave and pop rock, The Bloodsugars shine above their contemporaries by keeping their inspiration just that: inspiration and don’t attempt to revive (or knock off) the iconic sound of any one genre. The Bloodsugars are an elating gem that stand out in both their recordings and their earnest live performances. On record and live, The Bloodsugars confidently and comfortably hold their own in the indie scene as a tight ensemble fantastically arranged and self aware.
Lead singer Jason Rabinowitz discusses with Free Williamsburg The Bloodsugars’ album, the sentimentality he hopes his listeners will take away from his music, and how his personal connection to the album exceeds more than just its musical content.
Interview after the jump:
1. What is the track that is your personal favorite off your new album? What do you think will be a fan favorite?
My favorite track right now is, ‚”Happiness.” I just love the way it came out, and the sentiment feels true to me. I would hope the fans gravitate to that one as well, although I know a lot of folks are digging the single, ‚”Light At The End Of The Tunnel.”
2. When you first described the album, you described it as, ‚”a modern prom playlist.” What do you mean by dubbing your album that?
It’s so funny, this quote has followed us everywhere. In fact, Matt Katz (keyboardist) and I were doing a call in interview and he said that. When he said it I thought to myself, “Hmm… Ok…” and let it go at that.
Then it made it into our press release. Ultimately I think he meant that it has that vibe where everything feels both hugely complicated and beautifully simple all at once. Like the way you look back at certain times in your life and think how silly you were, but how it all felt so real. That push and pull of emotion, that certain songs can capture. And you can get drunk, fight, make up, make out, and dance to it, of course.
3. While your songs have narrative lyrics, the lyrical content is also kind of vague leaving lots of room for interpretation. How do you feel to think that people are adapting your personal stories and songs to fit their mood and respective lives? Is it comforting that people relate to your music or is a turn off to have people skew your personal stories?
Man, it’s so constantly amazing to me how everyone’s experience of any given song is so unique. I love that everyone comes to music from their own place and can find meaning in it. Most of the writing that I really admire leaves room for interpretation. Even someone like Stephen Merritt, who’s songs are so immediately relatable and seemingly direct I think people filter their meanings through their own experience.
I remember being 13 and just broken up with one of my first girlfriends and listening to Teaser And The Firecat and freakin’ BAWLING! “How can I tell you that I love you/When I can’t think of right words to say” Ridiculous! But I think that’s what it’s about!
4. Is your album in fact named after a Samuel Beckett quote? Does that quote carry any personal meaning to you independent of your album title?
No, actually I can truthfully say I did think of it all on my lonesome — although apparently it came to Samuel Beckett years before. It was very true to what we were experiencing this last year. The idea of this record–and thereby the title — was sort of immortalizing a favorite coping mechanism.
And to risk restating an age old truism, ‚”Life is freakin’ short.” There is always an ebb and flow to the good time. A major way I and the dudes in this band cope with the inevitable darkness life brings is to shake it off and get down. It works for us. It can be over in the blink of an eye so tonight we rock out.
5. Was it hard to name the album? Were there other working album titles?
For me, naming anything is not an easy task. The name we settled on, ‚”I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On” was inspired by the year leading up to recording the record in which an immediate family member of mine was going through cancer treatment. It was by far the most difficult year of my life and it had major impact on the band.
There were many times when I hit a wall so big I had never seen anything like it and you wonder how you can go on but there’s no choice. You have to and you do. We are so insanely resilient. So it followed, ‚”I can’t go on… (sigh) I’ll go on…” Hey, that’s got a nice ring to it..
It was in the end the only title we could all live with and was also real for all of us.
–Janice Chou
