The Front Bottoms

The Front Bottoms

Brian Sella - vocals, guitar

Mathew Uychich - drums

            The Front Bottoms are a two-piece indie-pop band based out of Bergen County, NJ. The band was formed in 2006 and originally had three members. On June 2, 2011, the band had announced they had signed to Bar/None Records and would release their debut album Late Summer 2011. We have the album now to report to you, so here we go. The record kicks off with a track titled “Flashlights.” It is an odd track, but the vocals are clear. The lyrics just ramble on and on about nothing. They put in backing vocals as well which result in a mix emotion. The front part of the track they pop up and fade out. They sound pretty good. At the end though, both guys are just letting out different lines at the same time which confuses the hell out of you. “Maps” is much of the same. The vocals are really monotone, but grow on you. The track does offer up rambling lyrics once again. The music isn't bad in this tune either. Like I said, it seems to grow on you. “Looking Like You Just Woke Up” is a quick 2 minute track that is quite funny. They spit out some creative lyrics while the music is raw and a bit messy. It’s a nice little quick hitter in-between some hard stuff on your iPod. “Mountain” has some cool music, but more jumpy lyrics. It a quirky number that some might get into, but for me it just comes up short. “Rhode Island” begins with a nice vibe, but that quickly leaves and replaced with nonsense. The lyrics again ramble, but this time it’s not bearable. You can just go ahead and skip it. “The Beers” is an upbeat number that holds some promise with the nice intro. The volcas enter and begin spitting off about beer and other junk. The lyrics then get really weird and might have you skipping ahead, but I tell you give it a bit longer. There are several spots during the track that could be used in a movie. The second time they mention steroids you can skip to the next track as it starts to get very old. “Father” conintues with the stupid lyrics and this time there is an annoying horn that they play during the track. The acoustic guitar sounds great, but it stops there. “Swimming Pool” has this voiceover over top the track that is very annoying. I think that they thought this was funny, but it wasn’t. “The Boredom….” has a very long titled that I decided to shorten up. You might think that the shortened version of the title is appropriate for this record, but we have four more tunes to go. This tune has an okay vibe, but the vocals (more notable the gang vocals) don't work well. “Bathtub” talks about taking a shower until they bleed. The lyrics say “All of a sudden,” “All of a sudden.” All of a sudden you will skip the song. “Legit Tattoo Gun” actually has a nice beat to it. Surprising you might be able to stick around for a minute or two. The vocal and lyrics aren't very good, but the music has some cool effects. “Hooped Earrings” finally concludes the album. It starts the voiceover that sounds like a voicemail. It then slides into a descent sounding tune. The vocals run through some lyrics at a pretty good pace and the track actually turns out to be half descent. Overall though the album just doesn’t measure up. The attempted humor music doesn’t work in this nature. If the vocals were better or even the music had a stronger beat for you to stay around it would be okay. With what they recorded it sounds like it was up in the attic or a garage. They reminds me of a couple of guys being bored and fucking off. There is hardly any value from this album. They are clever with some of their vocals, but they need to grow up a bit and expand the act for anything to ever come from this.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Tracks to Watch:

Looking Like You Just Woke Up

Track List:

1. Flashlights
2. Maps
3. Looking Like You Just Woke Up
4. Mountain
5. Rhode Island
6. The Beers
7. Father
8. Swimming Pool
9. The Boredom….
10. Bathtub
11. Legit Tattoo Gun
12. Hooped Earrings 

Website (s): www.facebook.com/thefrontbottoms