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The Front Bottoms at Buffalo RiverWorks (10/22/17)

This past Sunday, The Front Bottoms returned to Buffalo, this time playing an insane set at Buffalo RiverWorks. The New Jersey based indie / pop punk act played Buffalo last year at the Town Ballroom, and since then, dropped a new LP on Fueled By Ramen, titled Going Grey.  While the record had only been out for three or four days by the time of the show, the band’s dedicated fans somehow seemed to know every word to every song. They played an insane 21 song set featuring songs from all four of their major label records, and neither the crowd nor the band took a break during the set, making it an unforgettable night. Check out some photos from their crazy set below, along with shots of both openers Bad Bad Hats and Basement, shot by blog photographer, Brendan O’Connor. Bad Bad Hats Basement The Front Bottoms THE FRONT BOTTOMS SETLIST:[...]

The Front Bottoms at Town Ballroom (4/6/16)

If I were to choose one word to describe The Front Bottoms’ show at Town Ballroom on April 6th, it would be fun.  Love them or hate them,  the New Jersey four piece known as The Front Bottoms have been packing venues across the world since their 2013 breakout release, Talon of the Hawk.  With the release of their 2015 record, titled Back on Top, the band has found more mainstream indie success, while their live shows still remain the same.  One big push pit, kids attempting to get as close to lead singer Brian Sella as possible, pointed fingers in the air.  All cheesiness and pop punk stereotypes aside, this band never ceases to put on some of the most fun live shows that I have ever attended, and the show at the Town Ballroom was no different.  On their first show of their tour, The Front Bottoms brought along up and coming[...]

Tonight: The Front Bottoms

For a band with humble beginnings as an acoustic dance-punk duo in New Jersey’s basement show circuit, The Front Bottoms have had an abundantly successful run thus far. In the past year alone, the duo-turned-quartet have experienced gain in the form of signing  to Fueled By Ramen and releasing Back On Top, which has certainly catapulted them much further than the basement scene. The band even has summer tour dates lined up at Coachella, Shaky Knees Music Festival and the inaugural Panorama Festival (playfully dubbed “East Coast Coachella”) in NYC. From what I’ve observed among friends, TFB tend to be a band that either doesn’t entirely click with you, or you’re wholly invested in on a few different levels. If there’s any one defining characteristic of their music, it’s the immense amount of personal sentiment they pour into it, but they do so through the guise of clever hooks, contagious lyricism, tastefully unrefined[...]

The Front Bottoms at Water Street Music Hall (10/22/15)

Here’s the thing about this band: every time you think you’ve seen enough or are burnt out on listening to their stuff, you come back for more. I’ve been to a total of five Front Bottom shows now and am somehow still unremittingly drawn to them. For the same reason I tend to always order a medium iced coffee with cream and caramel swirl when I roll through the Dunkin’ Donuts drive thru, I always try to snag a ticket if they’re in the area because I know what I’m getting into at a Front Bottoms show, and I know it’ll be real damn good. Last night’s Rochester show at Water Street stuck out to me among all of my past TFB show escapades. With a set list that included eight songs from their newest release, Back On Top, three songs from the Rose EP, five songs from Talon of the Hawk and four[...]

The Front Bottoms

The Front Bottoms carry the unique ability to put listeners through the emotional wringer and have them come out on the other side embracing a limitlessly carefree attitude. Through charm, wit, innuendo, pointed imagery and melodies that nest themselves neatly in your ears for a seemingly infinite amount of time, this four piece has been able to use that ability to develop into a captivating indie-pop force. The band’s recent full length release, Back On Top, is somewhat of a power statement. It’s undoubtedly different than previous releases but it still retains the same characteristics mentioned above. Even people who initially expressed reservation toward the album have come to love it in some way — in almost an exclusive, “this album was written for me” type of way. Tunes like “West Virginia” and “Cough It Out” showcase the creative risks the band is taking instrumentally and melodically, but there’s still this inherent somber hopefulness[...]

The Front Bottoms – Back On Top

I’m not sure if it was the choice of the Front Bottoms or their new label, Fueled By Ramen, but in an exceedingly strange move, prior to the release of their new record, Back On Top, SIX of the record’s eleven songs were made available to the public. Why they did this, I’m not too sure, but what I do know is that coming from someone who had this record as one of their most anticipated of the year, it almost totally killed all of the hype behind it.  That’s not to say that the tracks they released were bad or anything, but knowing what half of the record sounded prior to the release really was a buzz kill. The release of the first track, “West Virginia,” actually came as a pleasant surprise. The band had taken a somewhat more advanced approach to song construction, and vocalist Brian Sella’s lyrics seemed as on point[...]