Considering their name is a not-so-subtle euphemism for vagina, the Front Bottoms are becoming a big thing. This is clearly evident from the way, just before this interview, four fans—three girls and one guy—squeal with near orgasmic delight after front-Front Bottom Brian Sella gives them autographs and poses for pictures. Later, it’s even more evident—the crowd’s hysteria at New York’s Best Buy Theater is more akin to a One Direction show. Or, for a more favorable musical comparison, the Beatles’ famous 1965 gig at Shea Stadium. Because, despite what the name suggests, the Front Bottoms—completed by drummer/founding member Mathew Uychich, plus Tom Warren on bass and Ciaran O'Donnell on keyboard, trumpet and guitar—are actually very good. But they weren’t always. Before 2011’s self-titled LP and last year’s kind-of breakthrough effort Talon Of The Hawk, they self-released two other albums, I Hate Your Friends and My Grandma Vs. Pneumonia, and an EP, Brothers Can’t Be Friends. The EP’s not bad, but—how to put this nicely?—the albums are hardly masterpieces. But that’s OK, because the New Jersey four-piece has just released Rose, an EP named after Uychich’s grandmother which contains re-recordings of six early songs. They sound phenomenally better, too. Luckily, that’s something Sella doesn’t seem to mind being told.
“Those first two albums, me and Mat would record them live in one take and we wouldn’t mix them or master them and we put them on the internet that night. That was our mindset. We wanted to play live—here’s some music, check it out! Really, at that point, I wanted my friends to hear it. I didn’t think anybody was going to listen to it. And then when we started playing these shows people were like, "Oh, what about 'Flying Model Rockets?' What about '12 Feet Deep?’' And it was like, "What?! What do you mean?" That was, like, at this point, five or six years ago. But those original recordings have such a personality to them. But I agree. The recording is… I’d personally rather listen to a better recording.”
