The Front Bottoms

The Front Bottoms are an American indie rock band that originated in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.^[1] The band consists of Brian Sella (vocals, guitar), Mat Uychich (drums), Tom Warren (bass) and Ciaran O'Donnell (keyboards, guitar, trumpet).

History

Formation and Early Releases (2007-2010)

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.

The Front Bottoms 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 titled I Hate My Friends in 2008, an EP titled Brothers Can't Be Friends the same year, and a second album in 2009 called My Grandma vs Pneumonia. Additionally, a 5-song cassette was handmade by the band in 2009 called Calm Down and Breathe which featured three songs that would later be on their self-titled album ("Father," "Swimming Pool," and "The Beers") as well as two other tracks ("More Than It Hurts You" and "The Bongo Song"). Only 30 of these tapes were made.

Self-Titled Album and Success (2010-Present)

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 cancelled. 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" and posted it on YouTube, 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. He then started a new band known as Zak Spade and The Love Enemies, of which Sella and Mat Uychich & Lee Hartney are alleged members. They replaced him with a new touring member, Drew Villafuerte, who also plays bass in addition to keyboards. Around 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 Front Bottoms released a video for "Twin Size Mattress" on YouTube in promotion of their next record. The Front Bottoms' second studio album, Talon of the Hawk, was released on May 21, 2013.

The Front Bottoms performing in Columbia, South Carolina on March 19, 2016.

On June 17, 2014, the band released an EP entitled Rose, a 6-track record that contains 6 songs previously heard on their early independent releases which were re-recorded. As Sella claimed, “These are the songs that people ask for when we’re on tour. They’re songs that we've either played live at shows or we've had kicking around that we couldn't let go of. These songs were also Mat’s grandmother Rosemary’s favorite songs, so it was kinda fittin that we named this EP Rose.”^[2] 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.^[3] In an interview, Sella stated that "the idea is to do sort of a 'Grandma series", record a bunch of old songs and release them," going on to say that the next in the series will likely be entitled "Anne".^[4]

On April 18, 2015, Run For Cover and Bar/None Records released two songs by the band, and two songs by rapper GDP on a split EP^[5] entitled "Liberty and Prosperity". It features the songs "Wolfman" and "Handcuffs".^[4]

In June 2015, it was announced they had signed to the label Fueled By Ramen^[6]

The Front Bottoms released their third studio album "Back On Top" on September 18, 2015 via Fueled By Ramen

The band is on the line-up for Coachella 2016.

On March 7, 2016, The Front Bottoms released a new song titled "Noodle Monster" on the Fueled By Ramen YouTube Channel.^[7]

On June 26, 2016, festival website 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. ^[8]

Band members

Current members

• Brian Sella - Vocals, guitar (2007–present)
• Mat Uychich - Drums (2007–present)
• Tom Warren - Bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
• Ciaran O'Donnell - Guitar, trumpet, keys (2012–present)

Former

• Brian Uychich - Keys, backing vocals (2007–2010)
• Drew Vilafuerte - Bass, keys - Touring member (2010–2012)

Discography

Studio albums

• I Hate My Friends (self-released, 2008)
• My Grandma vs. Pneumonia (self-released, 2009)
• The Front Bottoms (Bar/None Records, September 6, 2011), contains all of "Slow Dance to Soft Rock" and the material from the cancelled "Grip 'n' Tie" EP
• Talon of the Hawk (Bar/None Records, May 21, 2013) U.S. #181^[9]
• Back on Top (Fueled by Ramen, September 18, 2015) U.S. #32 ^[10]

EPs

• Brothers Can't Be Friends (self-released, 2008)
• Slow Dance to Soft Rock (self-released, 2010)
• Summer of Steroids (Bar/None Records, 2011)^[2]
• Rose (Bar/None Records, June 17, 2014) U.S. #195 ^[10]
• Liberty and Prosperity (Split 7" with GDP) (Bar/None Records and Run For Cover Records, April 18, 2015)
• Needy When I'm Needy 7" (Fueled by Ramen, October 14, 2016)

Singles

• West Virginia (Fueled By Ramen, Jun 10, 2015)
• Cough It Out (Fueled By Ramen, Jun 22, 2015)
• Help (Fueled By Ramen, Jul 30, 2015)
• Laugh Till I Cry (Fueled By Ramen, Aug 14, 2015)
• Summer Shandy (Fueled By Ramen, Sep 10, 2015)
• 2YL (Fueled By Ramen, Aug 25, 2016)

References

External links

• Official website
• The Front Bottoms on Facebook