New Jersey’s post-emo indie-rock outfit plays its biggest Manchester solo show to date
The Front Bottoms may have only been around for a few years now but they’ve certainly crammed a lot into their career so far. The band – which originally consisted of just singer/guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mathew Uychich – first formed back in 2006 but it wasn’t until a few years later that they really started to pick up steam. Sella’s unapologetic voice, mixed with some frantic often-acoustic-sometimes-electric guitars and Uychich’s rapid drums gave the band’s music an intensity that caught the ear. Throw in Sella’s confessional lyrical style which boasts turns of phrase drenched in candid honesty and it wasn’t long before they’d acquired a loyal fanbase.
For younger ears, Sella’s songs of self-inspection clearly spoke the right language for a generation all about self-improvement – and for all those elder emos with musical tastes still discreetly tuned to screamy tracks with emotional peaks, the band offered something fresh and refreshingly forward-facing for a genre that’s often mistakenly said to have fizzled out in the late noughties. Both sections of The Front Bottoms’ multi-generational fanbase have shown up at Manchester Academy tonight for an evening with the band, one of just a handful of UK shows before 2023 comes to a close.
As The Front Bottoms have grown in popularity, they’ve also grown in number, with bassist Natalie Newbold, and guitarist and backing vocalists AJ Peace and Erik Ease Romero joining them on their current jaunt across the pond. Over the years, additional members have come and gone – but the band’s core centrepiece of Sella and Uychich has remained consistent, driving it forward all the way into the release of this year’s new record You Are Who You Hang Out With.
Sella appears on stage looking quite dapper, dressed in a turtleneck underneath a suave blazer. It’s an image that cuts a stark contrast to the songs he’s singing – tracks of forlorn lost loves like “West Virginia” from 2015’s Back On Top and booze-soaked adolescence in “The Beers” from their 2011 self-titled debut. Sadly, this fancy facade doesn’t last too long as the heat of the stage lights and performance excursion becomes too much. “I’m never wearing a fucking turtleneck again in my life…” says a sweaty Sella, shedding the shirt to reveal a simple tee and finally catching his breath. We don’t blame him.
Going from suave to student is a wardrobe combination that feels quite apt for tonight’s crowd. Despite once opening for a Tom Delonge-less Blink 182 at Castlefield Bowl in 2017, the band have otherwise been relegated to stages at The Albert Hall, The Ritz and smaller Academy rooms. While each is fine, none are quite as airy as the venue they find themselves in tonight, one that has been filled to the rafters with The Front Bottoms’ fanatics; a mixture of students and people who look like they have work in the morning.
However, by the time the band get going, this crowd dissection becomes a moot point, with bouncy hits “Flashlight”, “Vacation Town” and “Au Revoir” removing all age concerns from the equation. It’s reassuring to see newer tracks like 2023’s therapeutic “Punching Bag” and wibbly-vocal-filled earworm “Paris” receiving a warm welcome from everyone in attendance, too. That said, much like tonight’s audience, The Front Bottoms haven’t forgotten their roots, with familiar set-closer (and somehow still the band’s biggest track) “Twin Size Mattress” working out the last dregs of Manchester’s angst ahead of the holiday season.
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