The Front Bottoms – Rose EP

Before The Front Bottoms’ relative rise to the fore with last year’s Talon Of The Hawk, the band released a number of pre-2010 gems responsible for building their early fan base.  Lots can happen to a band’s style in a few short years, and the New Jersey duo/stage quartet acknowledges their growth with the select re-recording of earlier material in their new EP, Rose.  The EP takes a back-to-basics approach that curbs the keyboard electronics of their most recent material in favour of capturing more personal, more traditional full-band and acoustic settings that frame The Front Bottoms as the jaded spawn of Say Anything and Andrew Jackson Jihad.

Vocalist Brian Stella remains the emotional heart of the band, with instrumental accompaniment accenting his many frank and upfront declarations.  For instance, take the gradual build of “12 Feet Deep;” the initial acoustic strums could very well sustain the entire track, but the infusion of horns in the verse and the snapping of each drumbeat gives the track some serious legs in its final sprint to the finish.  A strong case for an early-career Blink 182 likeness emerges with more conventional tracks like “Flying Model Rockets,” particularly in chord selections.  Most benchmarks are fleeting though, and when “Lipstick Covered Magnet” follows up with Stella’s heavily enunciated lyrical expression and late-track parallel vocals, the ball rests firmly in The Front Bottoms’ court (not to mention the stylish female vocals surfacing throughout the minimalist breakup and moving-on piece, “Jim Bogart”).

Perhaps most importantly though, The Front Bottoms have always had a razor sharp tongue.  A snapshot of the gritty, vivid imagery driving “Awkward Conversations” rings true for each song on Rose.  “I personally think it’s too cold to have the windows open, but you want to smoke your menthol cigarettes,” states Stella forcefully in his account of trivial social encounters.  A sense of adverse egocentrism frames most songs – the type defining adolescent “me against the world” type thoughts at the onset of young adulthood.  There’s a morbid fascination that comes with listening to Stella squirm uneasily as he twists his way through many awkward situations.

With such a vibrant offering, it’s tough to find any significant fault in Rose.  The EP affirms the band’s status as an articulate and emotional upstart that has slowly emerged from under the radar as genre front-runners.  The Front Bottoms might not be for everyone (particularly those that harp on Say Anything), but as Rose demonstrates, their energy and vibrancy certainly places them at the top of their class.