The Front Bottoms
The Front Bottoms are an American folk punk band from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.[3] The Front Bottoms are lead vocalist and guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mat Uychich.
The Front Bottoms | |
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The Front Bottoms | |
Background information | |
Origin | Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | Bar None, Fueled by Ramen |
Website | thefrontbottoms |
Members |
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Past members |
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History
The group formed in 2006.[4][5] In August 2007, after Brian Sella (vocals, guitar, lyricist) finished his first year of college, he and childhood friend Mathew Uychich (drums) began playing together under the name The Front Bottoms. Soon after, Uychich's brother Brian Uychich (keyboard, vocals) began sitting in on their practices. Brian asked to join the band, playing an old keyboard he found in the Uychich family attic. This completed the original lineup, with which the first two albums and EP were recorded.
They spent the next few years playing locally around New Jersey and eventually doing extensive tours around the country. In between tours, Sella worked at a grocery store and Uychich worked in landscaping. During this time, they put out a self-released album, I Hate My Friends, in 2008, an EP, Brothers Can't Be Friends, the same year, and a second album in 2009, My Grandma vs Pneumonia. Additionally, a five-song cassette, Calm Down and Breathe, was handmade by the band in 2009, and limited to 30 copies. They were part of the New Brunswick-based artist collective Tiny Giant.
Around 2010, the band started writing material for what would become their self-titled album. They released an EP called Slow Dance To Soft Rock which contained six tracks later remastered for the LP. A second EP, Grip N' Tie, was planned to be released later that year but was canceled. The songs that were on it were instead combined with the previous EP to produce an entire album. In late 2010, the band filmed a music video for "Maps", after being contacted through Myspace by an anonymous filmmaker, which gave them great exposure. On June 2, 2011, the band had announced that they signed with Bar/None Records and would release their self-titled debut studio album on September 6, 2011.
As of fall 2010, Brian Uychich left the band to concentrate on school full-time. The Front Bottoms replaced Uychich with a new touring member, Drew Villafuerte, who played bass in addition to keyboards. In 2012, Villafuerte stopped touring with the band as well, citing the extensive touring as too difficult. He was replaced by Tom Warren and Ciaran O'Donnell.
In March 2013, the band released a video for "Twin Size Mattress" on YouTube in the promotion of their next record. Their second studio album, Talon of the Hawk, was released on May 21, 2013.
On June 17, 2014, the band released a six song EP, Rose.[6] The music video for "Twelve Feet Deep" shows the band, along with members of the audiences shown, wearing masks depicting the drawing of Rosemary's face that is featured as the album cover.[7]
On April 18, 2015, Run for Cover and Bar/None Records released two songs by the band, and two songs by rapper GDP on Liberty and Prosperity, a split EP.[8] In June 2015, it was announced they had signed to the label Fueled by Ramen[9] The Front Bottoms released their third studio album Back on Top on September 18, 2015, via Fueled by Ramen.
On March 7, 2016, they released a new song, "Noodle Monster", on the Fueled by Ramen YouTube Channel.[10] On June 26, 2016, Pitchfork released a music video for the song "Ginger" from the album Back on Top. The video was directed by Marlon Brandope and shot in Cranston, Rhode Island.[11]
Preceded by the single "Raining", the band released their fourth studio album, Going Grey, on October 13, 2017.
In an interview in February 2018, Sella confirmed the release of the Ann EP, the second in the 'Grandma series'. The EP was released on May 18, 2018, via Fueled by Ramen, and a music video for its final song, "Tie Dye Dragon", was released on March 16.[12]
On December 20, 2019, they released the song "Camouflage" and an accompanying music video. This was followed by the song "Everyone Blooms" and its video on April 17, 2020.
On July 3, 2020, the band announced their album In Sickness & in Flames and released the song "Montgomery Forever" with its video.[13] On August 14, 2020, they released the song "Fairbanks, Alaska", and the album on August 21, 2020.
Band members
Current members
Former
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Touring musicians
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Timeline
Discography
LPs
- I Hate My Friends (self-released) (2008)
- My Grandma vs. Pneumonia (self-released) (2009)
- The Front Bottoms (2011)
- Talon of the Hawk (2013)
- Back on Top (2015)
- Going Grey (2017)
- In Sickness & in Flames (2020)
EPs
- Brothers Can't Be Friends (2008)
- Slow Dance to Soft Rock (2010)
- Rose (2014)
- Liberty and Prosperity (Split with GDP, 2015)
- Needy When I'm Needy (2016)
- Ann (2018)
- Devinyl Splits No. 12 (Split with Kevin Devine, 2019)
- Ukulele Versions (Bandcamp EP, 2020)
Music videos
- "Maps" (2010)
- "Swimming Pool" (2011)
- "Flashlight" (2011)
- "Christmas Wrapping" (2011)
- "Mountain" (2013)
- "Twin Size Mattress" (2013)
- "Skeleton" (2013)
- "Funny You Should Ask" (2013)
- "Backflip" (2014)
- "12 Feet Deep" (2014)
- "West Virginia" (2015)
- "Cough It Out" (2015)
- "HELP" (2015)
- "Laugh Till I Cry" (2015)
- "Summer Shandy" (2015)
- "Ginger" (2016)
- "2YL" (2016)
- "Raining" (2017)
- "Vacation Town" (2017)
- "Peace Sign" (2017)
- "Everyone But You" (2018)
- "Lonely Eyes" (2018)
- "Tie Dye Dragon" (2018)
- "camouflage" (2019)
- "everyone blooms." (2020)
- "montgomery forever" (2020)
- "Fairbanks, Alaska" (2020)
References
- Smyers, Darryl (June 13, 2014). "Brian Sella of the Front Bottoms: "I Never Thought Anybody Would Listen to Our Band"". Dallasobserver.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Cohen, Ian (October 24, 2017). "The Front Bottoms: Going Grew Review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- Aberback, Brian (May 28, 2013). "Bergen County's the Front Bottoms kick off new album with tour". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- Niesel, Jeff (May 23, 2018). "10 Bands to See Next Weekend at the Agora at Spring Fling V". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- Payne, Chris (March 16, 2018). "The Front Bottoms Announce New 'Grandma Series' EP, Share Enigmatic Video for 'Tie Dye Dragon'". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- "Artists: The Front Bottoms". Bar/None Records. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
- The Front Bottoms - "12 Feet Deep" Music Video (Music video). YouTube. August 21, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
- Sharp, Tyler (March 5, 2015). "The Front Bottoms, GDP split seven-inch officially announced". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
- Sharp, Tyler (June 23, 2013). "The Front Bottoms sign to Fueled by Ramen". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
- Fueled by Ramen (March 7, 2016). "The Front Bottoms: Noodle Monster (Audio)". Youtube.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "The Front Bottoms Share New "Ginger" Video: Watch - Pitchfork". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- "The Front Bottoms Interview [February 2018]". oftr.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- "The Front Bottoms Announce New Album and Share "Montgomery Forever"". July 3, 2020.