Home Read Albums Of The Week: The Front Bottoms | You Are Who You...

Albums Of The Week: The Front Bottoms | You Are Who You Hang Out With

Fun is the name of the game for the New Jersey duo on their latest studio release — and it shows on this upbeat and anthemic collection of indie-rock and folk-punk.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For New Jersey’s The Front Bottoms, working on new music has always been therapeutic, but on their new album You Are Who You Hang Out With, having complete and utter fun took top priority for the duo of Brian Sella and Mat Uychich.

It’s this carefree and laid-back mindset that colored the sessions for You Are Who You Hang Out With. Armed with the duo’s signature anthemic melodies, take-no-prisoners lyrics and tight musical interplay, every spin of the album is a chance to peek behind the curtain at two friends having one hell of a time doing what they do best. “Oh yeah, it had to be fun for us,” says Uychich of the freewheeling, oft-emotional recording sessions. “Also, we said numerous times that we needed to make it sound like The Front Bottoms.”

To hear Sella tell it, things had to feel comfortable for them. Because sure, they could get self-serious about their craft. But The Front Bottoms have never been that band. “So we had to keep it natural,” Sella says of the process that resulted in a stunning 10-track album full of explosive hooks and even harder-hitting melodies “Don’t force anything and just let the songs develop the way they develop. That’s just the way it’s meant to be.”