"Young Time Rock N' Roll": The Bitter Chills' DIY Revolution

The Bitter Chills

The Bitter Chills just released their fourth album, Young Time Rock N' Roll. The New Jersey-based band has been steadily putting out records with Mint 400 Records, crafting their signature blend of British Invasion meets 80s post-punk energy meets Americana roots. On this latest release, they've taken a more hands-on approach with production.

We caught up with them via email to chat about their musical influences, their resistance to genre labels like "catchy roots rock" or "energetic indie folk," and how they balance wit with heart in their songwriting. What comes through clearly is a band focused on making music that feels authentic rather than chasing trends.

So your new album is called Young Time Rock N' Roll, which you've mentioned is a nod to British Invasion, 80s post-punk, and Americana. Which bands from those eras really shaped what you were going for here?

I really love the country/Americana side of The Beatles, The Stones, and The Kinks. All three of those bands clearly had albums where they leaned heavily on American roots music. Rubber Soul and Let it Bleed are obvious examples. In a nutshell, that probably comes closest to the core identity of The Bitter Chills: Those rootsy sounds on top of the melodic, tightly arranged songs of those British bands. But then, I'm also a huge fan of Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, XTC, Nick Lowe -- there were such great, energetic, melodic records emerging in the late 70s and early 80s.

That cover photo with the three kids – I heard you just stumbled across it and knew it had to be the album cover. What was it about that image that clicked with what you're doing on this record?

The boy in that photo is a friend of mine, on a family vacation many years ago. When he showed me the photo, I knew I had to use it. After that decision, we came up with the title, based on the idea of kids feeling the kind of rage and rebellion that they're pretending to have --- but which a lot of young people, and many older people, are actually feeling in this country right now.

This is album number four for you guys. How do you feel this one sits alongside your earlier stuff, especially compared to "Highway 21"?

This album feels special to me because we handled most of the production and mixing ourselves. We really have no one else to blame for anything that we don't love about it. But I'm proud of it. Tim (Robert Fulton) took the lead in engineering and mixing it, and we took our time experimenting with sounds and refining ideas. Plus, there was more co-writing with Tim and discussing arrangements as we tracked, as opposed to me having all the finished songs beforehand.

I've been listening to "Pharmacy," your first single. What made you pick that one to introduce the album, and what's the story behind it?

We just loved the energy of that one. We recorded the basic tracks live with Patrick Suler, a friend and fellow Jersey musician/songwriter. He captured a good, lively vibe, which felt like a strong way to kick off the album and introduce it to people.

You've been with Mint 400 Records for three albums now. How has that relationship grown over time, and has it changed how you approach making music?

It hasn't changed much. Neil Sabatino, who runs the label, has always been great and supportive; that's been a constant. The one notable difference is that Neil produced and mixed the previous albums, and we did most of that ourselves this time around. And that wasn't a rejection of Neil's talents; we just really wanted to dig into the production and mixing ourselves this time around.

People describe your sound as somewhere between "catchy roots rock" and "energetic indie folk." Do you guys even think about those labels when you're writing, or do you just do your thing?

No, never. I understand why labels and genre terms are useful, because music can be an elusive thing to describe concisely. But I struggle with labels -- especially as a lot of labels have less to do with music itself than with marketing and commerce.

How do you balance the band's wit with the more heartfelt stuff on this album?

To lean on a cliché, I've always thought of those two things as merely sides of the same coin. For one thing, people joke about serious, disturbing subjects because that's a healthy way to process them. So writing about, say, aging or estranged relationships in a way that gets a chuckle just feels natural. Plus, I don't personally have much use for musical artists who are completely humorless. Most great artists I admire have a healthy sense of humor on display: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, The Ramones, Aimee Mann, Lyle Lovett, Ben Folds, Beastie Boys, Father John Misty, and on and on.