The Bloodsugars – ‘BQEP’

We all love music that we can dance to, sing along with at the top of our voices, and then sit down and have a think about, don’t we? The Bloodsugars, with their hook-heavy, synth-laced, indie-pop provide just this.

The Brooklyn-based band layer catchy guitar licks over keyboards and wrap digs at the leaders of America, amongst other targets, in sweet, falsetto vocals. Their distinct nods to old skool 70s rock are mixed in with 80s pop and, saturated in modern indie.

Frontman, Jason Rabinowitz, whose voice has been likened to Elvis Costello, switches from bubblegum charm in ‘Purpose was again’, (probably the strongest track on the album) in which he muses about a planet, galaxies away that is “so much like ours, with its own beings, its own sun…” to a more melancholy, lighter-swinging ballad in ‘Uh Oh’: “I couldn’t see, we were headed for destruction.”

‘Breakfast on the BQE’ is an accessible pop tune that climbs and soars to a climax of gritty, indie-rock. ‘Bloody Mary’s groovable pop, on closer listen, voices several frustrations at the political state of the U.S. “You’re just a product of the world, the one that you created.”

There is a distinct element of the american teen, squeaky-clean to the band, who play their individual roles seamlessly but never venture too far into controversy, or rock out too hard, or add a really compelling instrumental section in anywhere. But then, the idea of blood sugars is to keep them pretty constant isn’t it? This mini album is definitely that; a consistent offering of unabrasive, inoffensive indie-pop that you can’t rant about, but equally, I couldn’t rave about. But, if you are after a heady dose of optimism and a hearty deal of hooks, get some Bloodsugars in them ears.

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By Natalie Odell