The Front Bottoms

Formation and early releases (2007-2010)

The group formed in 2006.^[3][4] In August 2007, after Brian Sella (vocals, guitar, lyricist) finished his first year of college, he and childhood friend Mathew Uychich (drums) began playing together under the name The Front Bottoms. Soon after, Uychich's brother Brian Uychich (keyboard, vocals) began sitting in on their practices. Brian asked to join the band, playing an old keyboard he found in the Uychich family attic. This completed the original lineup, with which the first two albums and EP were recorded.

The Front Bottoms spent the next few years playing locally around New Jersey and eventually doing extensive tours around the country. In between tours, Sella worked at a grocery store and Uychich worked in landscaping. During this time, they put out a self-released album titled I Hate My Friends in 2008, an EP titled Brothers Can't Be Friends the same year, and a second album in 2009 called My Grandma vs Pneumonia. Additionally, a 5-song cassette was handmade by the band in 2009 called Calm Down and Breathe which featured three songs that would later be on their self-titled album ("Father," "Swimming Pool," and "The Beers") as well as two other tracks ("More Than It Hurts You" and "The Bongo Song"). Only 30 of these tapes were made.

Self-titled album and success (2010-present)

Around 2010, the band started writing material for what would become their self-titled album. They released an EP called "Slow Dance To Soft Rock" which contained six tracks later remastered for the LP. A second EP, "Grip N' Tie", was planned to be released later that year but was cancelled. The songs that were on it were instead combined with the previous EP to produce an entire album. In late 2010, the band filmed a music video for "Maps" and posted it on YouTube, which gave them great exposure. On June 2, 2011, the band had announced that they signed with Bar/None Records and would release their self-titled debut studio album on September 6, 2011.

As of fall 2010, Brian Uychich left the band to concentrate on school full-time. He then started a new band known as Zak Spade and The Love Enemies, of which Sella, Mat Uychich, and Lee Hartney are alleged members. The Front Bottoms replaced Uychich with a new touring member, Drew Villafuerte, who also played bass in addition to keyboards. In 2012, Villafuerte stopped touring with the band as well, citing the extensive touring as too difficult. He was replaced by Tom Warren and Ciaran O'Donnell.

In March 2013, The Front Bottoms released a video for "Twin Size Mattress" on YouTube in promotion of their next record. The Front Bottoms' second studio album, Talon of the Hawk, was released on May 21, 2013.

The Front Bottoms performing in Columbia, South Carolina on March 19, 2016.

On June 17, 2014, the band released an EP entitled Rose, a 6-track record that contains 6 songs previously heard on their early independent releases which were re-recorded. As Sella claimed, “These are the songs that people ask for when we’re on tour. They’re songs that we've either played live at shows or we've had kicking around that we couldn't let go of. These songs were also Mat’s grandmother Rosemary’s favorite songs, so it was kinda fittin that we named this EP Rose.”^[5] The music video for "Twelve Feet Deep" shows the band, along with members of the audiences shown, wearing masks depicting the drawing of Rosemary's face that is featured as the album cover.^[6] In an interview, Sella stated that "the idea is to do sort of a 'Grandma series', record a bunch of old songs and release them," going on to say that the next in the series will likely be entitled "Ann".^[7]

On April 18, 2015, Run For Cover and Bar/None Records released two songs by the band, and two songs by rapper GDP on a split EP^[8] entitled "Liberty and Prosperity". It features the songs "Wolfman" and "Handcuffs".^[7] In June 2015, it was announced they had signed to the label Fueled By Ramen^[9] The Front Bottoms released their third studio album Back on Top on September 18, 2015 via Fueled By Ramen.

On March 7, 2016, The Front Bottoms released a new song titled "Noodle Monster" on the Fueled By Ramen YouTube Channel.^[10] The band performed at Coachella, Austin City Limits, Panorama & Shaky Knees in 2016. On June 26, 2016, Pitchfork released a music video for the song "Ginger" from the album Back on Top. The video was directed by Marlon Brandope and shot in Cranston, Rhode Island.^[11] In November 2016, The Front Bottoms went on their UK/EU tour with support from "Apologies, I Have None" and "Gnarwolves". The band toured with Blink 182 & Frank Turner across the UK during the Summer of 2017.

The Front Bottoms announced their fourth studio album, Going Grey, on August 24, 2017, for release on October 13. The news was accompanied by the release of a new single, "Raining".

In an interview in February 2018, Sella confirmed the upcoming release of the Ann EP, the second in the "Grandma series". The EP was released on May 18th, 2018 via Fueled By Ramen.^[12]

Timeline

Studio albums

• I Hate My Friends (self-released, 2008)
• My Grandma vs. Pneumonia (self-released, 2009)
• The Front Bottoms (Bar/None Records, September 6, 2011), contains all of "Slow Dance to Soft Rock" and the material from the cancelled "Grip 'n' Tie" EP
• Talon of the Hawk (Bar/None Records, May 21, 2013) US #181^[13]
• Back on Top (Fueled by Ramen, September 18, 2015) US #32^[13]
• Going Grey (Fueled by Ramen, October 13, 2017) US #47^[13]

EPs

• Brothers Can't Be Friends (self-released, 2008)
• Slow Dance to Soft Rock (self-released, 2010)
• Summer of Steroids (Bar/None Records, 2011)^[5]
• Rose (Bar/None Records, June 17, 2014) US^[13]
• Liberty and Prosperity (Split 7" with GDP) (Bar/None Records and Run For Cover Records, April 18, 2015)
• Needy When I'm Needy 7" (Fueled by Ramen, October 14, 2016)
• Ann (Fueled by Ramen, 2018)

Singles

• "West Virginia" (Fueled by Ramen, June 10, 2015)
• "Cough It Out" (Fueled by Ramen, June 22, 2015)
• "Help" (Fueled by Ramen, July 30, 2015)
• "Laugh Till I Cry" (Fueled by Ramen, August 14, 2015)
• "Summer Shandy" (Fueled by Ramen, September 10, 2015)
• "Get Numb" (June 6, 2017)
• "Raining" (Fueled by Ramen, August 24, 2017)
• "Vacation Town" (Fueled by Ramen, September 9, 2017)
• "Peace Sign" (Fueled by Ramen, October 13, 2017) U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs No. 36
• "Tie Dye Dragon" (Fueled by Ramen, March 16, 2018)