The Front Bottoms Are More Punk Than You Think

Brian Sella and Mathew Uychich of The Front Bottoms want to get their music into as many ears as possible, as quickly as possible. That’s why the duo would record new songs and release them online all within the span of one jam-filled night, particularly during the earlier years. Sella, the guitarist and vocalist, recalls those basement sessions and the sometimes questionable decisions that went into releasing unmixed music.

“We like to be very punk rock. We were very punk back in the day. We would just record all of these songs, and that night we would put them out on the internet. We wouldn’t mix them; a lot of the songs don’t even have bass in them. We wanted people to hear the songs and be able to listen to them. We didn’t care about the quality. We wanted people to be able to learn the words,” he explains. “None of these songs ever got official releases [at that time]. There were probably 25 or 30 songs that we noticed when we were going on tour — there would be kids yelling out these songs, like ‘the bongo song,’ that I didn’t really remember how to play."

With more experience and expertise under their belts, Sella and Uychich made the decision to revisit the rough releases of their youth and put them out properly as part of the “grandma series,” which so far includes EPs Rose (2014), Ann (2018) and this year's Theresa.

“That was the energy [behind the EPs], of like, ‘Okay, let’s do this and go back, not be so punk rock about it. Do the songs so people can listen to them and give it an official release,’” Sella recalls. “Mat’s grandmother had just passed away when we were coming up with this idea. It just clicked. It was totally natural — ‘We’re going to name this one Ann, after your grandma.’ It was like, ‘Oh, shit, this makes so much sense.’ It was sad; my grandmother passed on when the next one was going to happen. It was keeping it creative. That’s kind of the vibe of it — giving these songs an official release and then being able to go out and play them and have people be able to sing along. And to pay homage to some of the most important women in our lives.”

The Front Bottoms play Summit Music Hall on Monday, September 26. Mobley and The Joy Formidable are providing support.

Sella says revisiting the older material, especially in preparing Theresa, was similar to reading a childhood diary. “It was freaky," he says. "It was like, ‘Oh, my God, what type of crazy person would make these types of decisions musically?’"

Their music is regularly described as “folk punk,” and Sella and Uychich use acoustic guitar and a modest drum set, including a five-gallon bucket, to their advantage. “I think it was a lot of necessity. I had an acoustic guitar and didn’t have an amp, so it was going to be acoustic guitar that I played. Mat had a very stripped-down drum set that he was able to find. That was it. That was what our sound was going to be,” Sella says. “The lyrics are important. It all just kind of developed very naturally.”

Drawing influence from Midwest bands such as Defiance, Ohio and Ghost Mice, the Front Bottoms have an emo edge to go along with their punk-rock ethos. Plus, cutting their teeth in New Jersey during the mid-2000s, Sella and Uychich would jump on any opportunity to play. There “was no thought process,” as Sella puts it.

“That was always what I was kind of chasing — the raw energy,” he adds. “We would play with really anybody. If there was a hardcore show, we would go and play.”

Back at it after the pandemic, the Front Bottoms are picking up where the band left off, releasing new material and playing more shows. It’s what the fans want, Sella says.

“The Front Bottoms realize that we’re here to serve the audience. It’s not for us at this point. I want people to have fun, and it’s got to be an escape. I want people to go on vacation when they come to a Front Bottoms show,” he concludes.

The Front Bottoms, 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 26, Summit Music Hall, 1902 Blake Street. Tickets are $31.