By McKenna Klaphake

The fathers of Midwest emo, The Front Bottoms, released their new album, You Are Who You Hang Out With, last Friday, August 4th. The ten track record marks vocalist/guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mathew Uychich’s sixth album release, in addition to many other EP’s and singles. 

The band became famous largely due to their song, “Twin Sized Mattress” debuting on the band’s album, Talon Of The Hawk. Since their creation in the early 2010’s, The Front Bottoms have released several very successful tracks including, “Be Nice To Me,” “12 Feet Deep,” and “Lone Star,” many of which have gone viral on social media platforms, as well as created what is now considered Midwest emo music. Despite being from New Jersey, Sella and Uychich have created many staple songs for the genre and if you look up any Midwest emo playlist on Spotify, I can guarantee there will be a song by The Front Bottoms.

As a fan of the band’s older material, I was excited to hear about the new album release. Although wary at first, like any fan hearing their favorite band’s new music, I had high hopes while listening to the record for the first time. 

The album starts out with electronic vocals on the track, “Emotional,” which is a great track to start off the album as it features fierce guitar chords and Sella’s recognizable speak-singing. The band is known and appreciated for their powerful lyrics which can be heard on this first track with the line, “Waking up in strange times/All these kids got no hope/Living their whole lives to an accidental overdose.” The Front Bottoms’ songs include themes about growing older, heartbreak, and the struggle of just trying to make it through the day. 

The band’s iconic use of the acoustic guitar can also be heard on this new album, especially on the songs, “Outlook” and “Punching Bag,” which match the same energy as many of their older material. The tracks have short but powerful verses and catchy choruses. The Front Bottoms know how to write songs that will get a listener hooked with easy-to-remember lyrics that are repeated many times throughout the whole song. The lyrics “You’ll feel better, that’s the point,” on the track “Punching Bag” are sure to get stuck in your head. 

Something unique that listeners will hear on this album is the light use of violins on the tracks, “Paris” and “Not Joking,” that brings a distinctive sound to the songs and forces you to give each one a deeper listen so as not to miss the little elements that add to the intrigue of the songs.

It goes to show that The Front Bottoms have become the next band to join the hyper-pop trend that has been growing in popularity as of recent. These such influences heard in the vocals and instrumentals are also evident in other songs on the record including, “Brick,” “Paris,” and “Clear Path.”

As a minor critique, I noticed that many of the songs on the second half of the album start to sound the same. With a ten track album some songs are going to fade into the background and every single one isn’t going to be a winner. This is the case with, You Are Who You Hang Out With, as the songs tend to blend together after the track, “Paris.” They’re all still very good songs, they just don’t stand out like the first half of the album. 

I’m not sure if any of the songs on this album have the ability to be as popular as “Twin Sized Mattress,” however, the elements that make this band good are still heard. Catchy choruses with repetitive lyrics, punchy beats, and powerfully emotional and relatable lyrics mark each track. Who knows, with the ability to go viral in a millisecond, that could very well change. 

While The Front Bottoms sadly don’t have a plan to stop in Minnesota, they recently kicked off their tour on August 1st in St. Louis, Missouri. As an often skipped-over state, we can only hope that the band will add a show in the Twin Cities.