At the core of the Front Bottoms new album Talon of the Hawk, is the crazy hybrid of slamming rock drumming and acoustic guitar the band is known for, but this time they augment their sound with electric guitars, synths, and even a little accordion. Over the top is Brian Sella’s confident heartfelt vocals that will have you laughing one minute, crying the next and then maybe pumping your fist and singing along when you least expect it.
Talon of the Hawk, rocks harder than their debut and it is more complex in both subject matter and arrangements. Once this sucker gets it’s claws in you’re going to soar! The 12-song set was produced by Chris “Frenchie” Smith (And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Meat Puppets, Built to Spill, Jet).
Brian Sella and drummer-bullhornist Mathew Uychich have known each other since they were 10 and 8 years old respectively and have been making music for a lot of that time. It shows in the rich hooks and clever rhythms and the effortless way they string riffs together into surprising song structures.
Matt and Brian started out playing a couple times a year for high school talent shows, learning a cover song and writing a crappy original each time. “I think we did Modest Mouse ‘Out of Gas’ one year and Green Day ‘Hitchin a Ride’ another year,” recalls Brian. And thus with enough original songs to play a full set, the Front Bottoms were officially born. Their first club date was an all-ages show at the Main Stage in Pompton Lakes, NJ.
The Front Bottoms bounced around Bergen County, eventually branching out making connections in the DIY concert community that has included everything from punk flop houses, VFW halls and fire stations. New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger called them “one of the leading lights of the New Jersey pop underground. The group's amalgam of punk, guitar-folk, lo-fi experimentalism, imagist-inspired poetry (drawing heavily on Sella's upbringing in the Jersey suburbs) and playful humor (that betrays the singer's youth) has caught discriminating ears on both sides of the Hudson.” LP includes download card.
The Front Bottoms Talon Of The Hawk Track Listing:
1. Au Revoir (Adios)
2. Skeleton
3. Swear To God The Devil Made Me Do It
4. Twin Size Mattress
5. Peach
6. Santa Monica
7. The Feud
8. Funny You Should Ask
9. Tattooed Tears
10. Lone Star
11. Backflip
12. Everything I Own
