Jason Rabinowitz, lead singer of The Bloodsugars, will play his first concert as a married man tonight.
Rabinowitz, who tied the knot over the weekend, and the other members of his indie dance rock group will headline Roustabout! tonight at Bar Bleu, 114 S. Garner St. This will also be his first time playing in State College.
Most Roustabout! shows this semester will showcase only one band and a disc jockey will bookend the set, Roustabout! promoter Jesse Ruegg said, adding that this arrangement works better with the flow of the evening.
The Brooklyn-based four-piece draws most of its influence from vintage '80s synth-pop music the band grew up on, said Rabinowitz, who was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 9 and thus the reason for the band's name.
"We're trying to put a new twist on the old stuff like Prince and kick it up a notch," he said.
The Bloodsugars just finished recording a track for Guilt by Association Vol. 2, a compilation disc also featuring indie artists such as Devendra Banhart and Will Oldham covering their favorite guilty pleasure songs.
The band is also in pre-production for its first full-length album scheduled to be recorded in October. Its six-track EP, entitled BQEP, was released in April.
"We definitely approach things from song first," Rabinowitz said. "There are a million ways you can render a song. We're a songwriting-based band, but we like to make the booty shake."
Chris Hacker, director of tours and promotions at Engine Room Recordings in New York City, an independent music company that does publicity for The Bloodsugars, said the band stands out because its songs have dense layers.
"It's got synth-indie rock but also some real songwriting that gives a different edge to bands doing the same thing," Hacker said.
Ruegg said the band writes great pop songs with catchy hooks.
"It's noisier, it's louder," Ruegg said. "I think it'll really translate."
However, The Bloodsugars is gradually abandoning its early inclinations to use catchy hooks and is leaning more toward subtle refrains, a la Swedish pop trio Peter Bjorn and John.
"Increasingly now, I'm kind of over hooks," Rabinowitz said. "I like blank space. I'm experimenting with anti-hooks, minimalist hooks."
The band's concerts' boisterous feel and high-energy output could be equated to that of a sugar high.
"We're givers," Rabinowitz said. "We like to rock the house, tear the [expletive] roof off. I've heard we're pretty fun to watch because we're all different and throwing down completely."
Hacker said the live show is worth noting because the band members are quite possibly having more fun than the crowd.
"They look like they're enjoying what they're doing because they are," Hacker said.
