The Front Bottoms

Rose EP

Bar/None
Street: 06.17

The Front Bottoms = (Cake – Against Me!) +
Violent Femmes

The Front Bottoms are what you’d get if Andrew Jackson Jihad mellowed out a little. Vocals from Brian Sella have a snotty, slurry lilt, similar to that of Sean Bonnette, and although the lyrical content is not as neurotic and fucked up as AJJ, it’s close. The acoustic strums are balanced and on time, which is one of the reasons why The Front Bottoms sound unique—as opposed to an AJJ knockoff. Rose EP is 18 minutes of nonstop goodness that’s stripped down, but it sounds big. There are plenty of memorable melodies, some acoustic strums, plinky piano lines and even flute. Top tracks are “Lipstick Covered Magnet,” which has a catchy melody with snarky, relatable lyrics, and “Jim Bogart,” which has trumpets that would make Jeff Mangum smile. I’m not sure if I should call it acoustic punk or emo or what, but I love it. –CJ Morgan