The Front Bottoms

The Front Bottoms (yes, it’s a euphemism) performed their last of a nine-date December UK tour, at Camden’s Electric Ballroom, promoting their 8th studio release ‘You Are Who You Hang Out With.’ The band have been making music for over 15 years, working through a few different lineups, but fundamentally Brian Sella (vocals, guitar) and Mathew Uychich (drums) remain the two original members, being friends since they were kids. They have been joined on this tour with 3 other session buddies to fill out the sound with one more guitar, bass and keys, plus some added backing vocals.

Drawing inspiration from the Midwest emo scene of the 90’s musically The Front Bottoms fit comfortably into that box, despite hailing from New Jersey. But they do like to break out with some pop infused sunshine which serves to brighten up a dank Monday night in North London. Right from the off the sound is loud and tight. Maybe they are a tad formulaic with verses setting up for explosive choruses. But lyrically they serve up tails of life and angst for a generation trying to make sense of a myriad of insecurities and existential challenges, and that’s where The Front Bottoms succeed in making a defining connection with their fans.

The Electric Ballroom has a capacity of 1500, and it looks almost maxed out tonight with an audience predominantly teen/twenty-something. The atmosphere is revved (along with the beats per minute which don’t vary that much). Hands are raised and it’s a testament to the bands influence that so many are belting out the lyrics to their songs. Halfway through the set and there’s even some modest crowd surfing.

Brian Sella’s vocal style might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you can get over that there are some endearing songs. Respect to Brian for giving it his all tonight and live his vocal sounds richer. The rest of the band don’t let up either, with high energy sustained throughout their performance.

They’ve mixed up the setlist each night on this tour. Songs from their 2013 album Talon of the Hawk (‘Twin Size Mattress’, ‘Peach’, ‘Au Revoir’) and other earlier songs stand out. And in many ways, this is when the band are their most interesting sounding – a tad goofy and insecure and wrapped up in jangly guitars and a confessional lyric. They only play three songs from the new album which gives them time to showcase a lot of fan favourites from across their catalogue.

Much of the new album has a more evolved indie rock sound, albeit some songs hark back to the band’s emo roots. But change and come of age they must, and it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here.

Setlist
Flying Model Rockets
West Virginia
Flashlight
Emotional
Bus beat
The Feud
Outlook
Lover Boy
Funny You Should Ask
Punching Bag
Maps
Santa Monica
Vacation Town
Hello World
2YL
The Beers
Ginger
Peach
Au Revoir (Adios)

Encore:
12 Feet Deep
Be Nice to Me
Twin Size Mattress