Days out from the release of Moths Strapped to Each Other’s Backs, Bedridden have a lot to look forward to. It marks their debut LP, it’s an opportunity to sell tapes without title misprints and it will surely inch them closer to Sebastian Duzian’s dreams of the band landing a Miller Light sponsorship. However, amongst all the bounties on the horizon there is a unanimous front runner exciting the band the most; the anticipated shift in their shows that will come when their audience finally has access to these songs. 

Of course, that will not come as a surprise to anyone who has caught a Bedridden set in their lifetime; the volcano of personality and noise they bring on stage speaks more to their passion for playing live than anything I could tell you from our conversation. The brash charm of their shows filters through their forthcoming record, and while Moths Strapped To Each Other’s Backs is by far their most intentional endeavor yet, at no point does the work poured into it sand down the band’s raw edges. Instead, Bedridden’s enthusiasm for the feel of a live set guides the listen, yielding an experience just as fervent as catching them at Trans-Pecos. 

Jack Riley started Bedridden during his college years in New Orleans, enlisting bassist Sebastian Duzian and drummer Nick Pedroza to formulate the band’s identity and hatch out their first EP, Amateur Heartthrob. “I think with Amateur Heartthrob, we just wanted music out – that was our debut, so we just had six songs that we considered done. Looking back, I don’t know if I consider them to be fully finished and fleshed out to the extent that they could have been,” Jack reflects on the EP. They are now a Brooklyn based four-piece, adding guitarist Wesley Wolffe as they progress towards a denser sound and a dynamic that stitches their various individual backgrounds and influences into an identity of its own. 

Moths Strapped To Each Other’s Backs presents as a quilt of witty and often hyper-specific anecdotes, ranging from an interaction with a church pastor to frustrations over ex-roommates’ lamp shopping obsessions. They nearly all have roots in rage, an emotion heightened as Jack’s words interact with charged guitar riffs and hostile drumming. The album’s title comes from [redacted astrology app], after a line about moths in a friend’s horoscope resonated with Jack amidst a period of his life blemished by codependency. While the tracks accumulated over the course of a few years, they all bleed into one familiar early adulthood story, and what it feels like to navigate an external world before you have fully grasped how to navigate yourself. 

“In terms of the timeline, a lot of the things I like to write about haven’t changed over the course of two years. Whether it be my silly, self-destructive behavior or just meeting new people and having experiences, it all seems pretty cyclical, like it just tends to keep happening”, Jack tells me. “Lyrically, [compared to Amateur Heartthrob], Moths is just more concise and intentional. It’s less tongue in cheek and more just exactly what I was going through or feeling on a certain week or day. It’s still kind of coated, in a way there’s a lot of metaphors and whatnot, but if you look into it or I explained what it was about, it’s pretty cut and dry. We also recorded this record over a year ago, so when I listen back it all blends together”. 

Although the bouts of heightened emotions explored in the album may have dulled with time, recent single rollouts have served to replenish the energy the band lends to these tracks. “It feels so good performing songs when they’re actually out. We’ve been playing some songs from the album since before the last EP was finished, so now three are out, playing those specifically is so much cooler, because there’s a chance someone in the audience actually knows them”, Nick explains, reflecting on their recent March touring. “Everytime we get to play ‘Chainsaw’ now that it’s out, I’m so stoked, like this is something I can show people and they can go find it,” Jack adds. “I’m ready for it all to be out and to get that feedback, especially in a live setting.” 

The band’s excitement to play the record post-release is joined by a sense of perfectionism, dispelling any notions that a slacker-leaning sound is synonymous with a lack of preparation. “We treat Bedridden like the military”, Wesley jokes after the four of them went into the self-deprecating details of a dissatisfying show in Philly. They also all cited the record’s most difficult track, “Heaven’s Leg” (known exclusively as “religious song” to Wesley, Sebastian and Nick) as their favorite to play due to the enduring focus and effort it requires. “It’s just one big shred fest bonanza”, Sebastian concludes. 

Moths Strapped to Each Other’s Backs is out April 11th via Julia’s War. Until then, the band has tapes available for pre-order on bandcamp. 

Written by Manon Bushong | Featured Photo by Sam Plouff