THE FRONT BOTTOMS, 2010 Photo by Dan Bracaglia

THE FRONT BOTTOMS - "Rose" EP (Bar-None Records)

The "Rose" EP offers six tracks of witty, self-deprecating, awkward teenage gold. What were once unpolished gems, have been reworked with the knowledge and musical chops of nearly four years of straight touring and recording. Despite its lyrically immature nature, the "Rose" EP is surely a coming of age record for the Front Bottoms.

I was first introduced to the FB’s back in the winter of 2010 at the Meatlocker in Montclair. I had been assigned to shoot them by the Star Ledger, and even though I was given the wrong set time and missed their whole show, I did stick around to chat with them and take the above portrait.

When they found out the news that they were getting a feature in the Ledger, both Brian Sella and Matt Uychich gave me a huge hug, and if my memory doesn’t mistake me, Brian even picked me up mid hug and spun me a full 360. I’ve been rooting for the duo ever since.

Despite this, the bands’ first two full length records both left something to be desired in my mind. Their first official LP, a self-titled release, came out right around the time my longterm girlfriend and I split up and as a result, the record resonated with me quite a bit. Even still, the last couple of tracks never really did it for me.

I skipped Talon of the Hawk, the bands’ second full length release all together; that is, until "Rose" came out. It is within the past few weeks I have revisited Talon, and it is rapidly growing on me. However, again, there are still a couple of tracks I find myself skipping over; tracks that just feel a little too forced.

"Rose" opens with “Flying Model Rockets,” the only song I remember having heard played live and also easily my favorite track on the record. Lines like, “There’s nothing in California that you could not learn to hate here, questions will all still be waiting for you, answers will only be less clear,” instantaneously catapult me back to the days of pre-college uncertainty. The same with lines like, “I get these strange phone calls at night, with no one on the other side.” Man, teenage love was confusing as hell.

“Lipstick Covered Magnet” is probably my least favorite on the record, but still excellent in its own right. Brian Sella sounds all too comfortable telling his presumable ex girlfriend, “I’m going to get on my knees, will you kick me in the face please? It will make whatever I say sound like poetry.” It is these kinds of lines that make the Front Bottoms so damn likable as a band. Their awkward, timid, suburban-Jersey kid charm really shines through on the whole record, but especially in this track.

Have you ever dated someone who made you feel cooler than you really are, who made you feel invincible? And even though you knew it would never work out in the long run, you rode it out for the pure high of the relationship? The next track, “12 Feet Deep,” is that in a nutshell. But it is also in many way a snarky youth anthem about the irony of giving zero fucks, and is all too appropriate for my generation. “I wear cool cloths, you can show some skin, flash a fake and we’ll both get in, now we’re dancing, we’re so drunk, we are so cool, we are so punk.”

“Jim Bogart” is a softer, emotional ballad, with female backing vocals on the line “Sometimes things just don’t work out, the way you want them too,” which is repeated over and over. The last quarter of the song picks up the pace a bit and finishes with Brian repeating, in a more positive tone, “And today we can do something that we’ve never done before, and today, we can do something more.”

“Be Nice to Me” is probably the second strongest track on the record, and a very upbeat number at that. Sella reflects on failed relationships, and the slim probability of ever finding that right person. Lines like, “You say I’m changing, sorry I didn’t know I had to stay the same,” are later countered by “I think you’re changing, don’t worry you don’t got to stay the same.” The song finishes in classic Front Bottoms style, with what is presumably voicemails from ex’s dubbed in, while Sella repeats over and over, “Your voice is driving me insane.”

The record closes with “Awkward Conversation”, a track I initially found kind of annoying, but now enjoy. It is an acoustic breakup number with just Brian singing. The line “I personally think it’s too cold to have the windows open but you want to smoke your menthol cigarettes,” is repeated, and indicative of a couple who has grown apart. All together a fitting finale for an lyrically emotional train wreck of an EP.

With the release of the "Rose" EP, the Front Bottoms’ camp also announced that they will be putting out more EP’s down the road, each named after a bandmate’s grandmother. Whereas 12 tracks might be stretching things a bit too thin, 6 tracks feels just right for a band like the Front Bottoms.

I’m going to keep rooting for them.