Review Summary: The tattoo test.
My girlfriend and I were talking about getting matching tattoos. The only question was, what of? A Bible quote? Sure, maybe. I just need to get closer to Jesus and actually, you know, read my Bible to pick one. Some Chinese character? No, I'm not a loser. Hmm, how about a song lyric? Okay. When thinking of truly relatable and quotable bands, my mind instinctively jumps the The Front Bottoms.
(We have since decided to get, “You like a man with muscles,” on my arm and, “And I like you,” on hers from their song “The Beers.”)
The Front Bottoms’ first two commercial albums are overflowing with witty, relatable, insightful lyrics, usually by way of metaphors made out of everyday situations and things. (See “Swimming Pool,” “Tattooed Tears,” and “Flashlight.”) But not only that, the music was played as passionately as humanly possible, if not particularly intricate (especially in the guitars.) they were catchy as all get-out, and every song could be danced or moshed to equally.
(We’ll come back to the lyrics later.)
And, luckily, as the band has gotten bigger and more exposure, the music has gotten only more so. When Tom Warren and Ciaran O’Donnel were added to the fold on “Talon of the Hawk,” the band began filling up space in the sound. “Back on Top” is bar-none, ha, the most instrumentally diverse album the band has put out thus far. When someone talks about musical “evolution,” this is a perfect example. The band isn’t going in a new direction per se, but is making the music more colorful. The instrumentals aren’t just folky browns (Which they still retain on songs like “Cough It Out,” one of my favorites) and punk reds (e.g. “Laugh Till I Cry,” another of my favorites) anymore. I see music kind of synaesthetically, just go with it. With all of their new Fueld By Ramen money, the band is able to add some blue, like the big band horn interlude on “2YL,” or some summery oranges and yellows with the tropical melody on “The Plan.” Even some purples with the funeral organ and bass vocals on “Plastic Flowers” and the spoken word outro to “Historic Cemetery” by rapper GDP. These diversions add breathe some new life into this album, and without fail, every song, have me humming, clapping, or dancing to something in the track.
Beside this new instrumentation, Brian Sella’s vocals are probably the most refined and on-point as they have ever been. He’s getting more and more Tom DeLonge-ian with every record, it’s scary. There are also some weird, ethereal backing vocals, like the Supremes got vitiligo and died and were then resurrected. Maybe that’s what “Historic Cemetery” is about... Regardless, I think they work well, juxtaposing the grounded, earthy voice of Brian with these watery, synthetic wails.
Back to the lyrics, they are really the only stumbling block the album has to be perfectly honest. Not to say they’re bad, except “Help” and “Motorcycle,” which are both disjointed and or not very clever.
Let's come back to the tattoo test. That’s the best way to judge a band’s lyrical content. I can’t find more than a handful of truly great lyrics that I would want on my body. When they are on, they are on, but when they are off, it hurts a little.
“Sometimes you gotta close your eyes to truly see the light
And most of us are older now, we should know wrong from right.”
Gee, thanks Brian. Thank you for that nugget of transcendental wisdom.
And I think I know the reason why this is: the main reason is that in an effort to appeal to more people, the Front Bottoms watered down their lyrics, which to me, seems completely backwards. Instead of having these feel-good, nonspecific lines about love and heartbreak and male hedonism, Brian should’ve gone into even MORE detail, more stories, more analogies than ever before to touch as many people as he can. I know he’s capable. I know every line to the self-titled album, not only because I’ve listened to it countless numbers of times, but that the lyrics are so memorable, so funny, witty and biting, that how could I not? And how could thousands of other people not?
This is not a bad album, by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve only listened through maybe 3 times and I’m already singing along to everything I remember, but some songs are muddy because of inconsistent lyrics. If the Front Bottoms want to succeed in the mainstream, they’ve got to stand out. Musically, they do. Lyrically, at least with this album, they are only slightly above par with other artists out there on Fueled by Ramen and others. Lord knows they beat Fall Out Boy this year by a mile in every department. Good work out there gang, but let’s see some more hustle next quarter.
Best Tracks: “Cough It Out,” “Laugh Till I Cry,” “The Plan,” “2YL.”
Worst Track: “Help.”
