The Front Bottoms – Talon Of The Hawk
A two piece band from New Jersey, the Front Bottoms have been gradually rising in popularity since their formation in late 2007 and first album in 2008. They have a unique style of indie punk that I hadn’t heard before but was surprisingly refreshing.
Despite the vocal style being quite harsh, they seem to fit perfectly with the twangy acoustic guitar, deep bass and light drums. It took me a little while to start appreciating the vocals as they are very alternative, but when combined with the rest of the band it totally works. The vocalist, Brian Sella, spews out metaphors and heart wrenching confessions with utter conviction so much so that you don’t really realise that half of the lyrics are overly simplistic and/or meaningless. They know exactly how to make a simple melody sound full and big, and that is where the joy is with this album. It isn’t complicated or conceptual – the lyrics don’t require much effort to interpret and the actual music is pretty straightforward.