The Front Bottoms have recently released the new EP "Ann" as part of their "Grandma Series." This series is comprised of two EPs — "Rose" and "Ann" — each named after the grandmothers' of drummer Mat Uychich and frontman Brian Sella, respectively.
What makes these EPs different from their other work is the songs they chose. They are each comprised of six songs with the last one being a new song while the other five are old tracks. The tracks they choose to remaster were ones that each grandmother especially liked according to the article "The Front Bottoms Announce New 'Grandma Series' EP." Now I thought a great way to get into listening to some of The Front Bottoms' older music would be to take this template and put in five old songs of my own choosing. To listen to "Ann" you can click here, and if you want to see them perform it live you can click here for their tour dates.
1. More Than It Hurts You
This song appears on both the EP "My Grandma vs. Pneumonia" in 2009 and the LP "Summer of Steroids" in 2011 according to Genus. What makes this song is how Sella's dark lyrics about how his body will be unidentifiable on the New Jersey shore after he cuts off his fingers, mixes with the bright keyboard that fades in and out. There is no doubt that this song is one of The Front Bottoms' older songs when you hear how low-fi it sounds, but I say it only adds to the aesthetic of the song and its meaning.
2. The Beers
"The Beers" is also on "Summer of Steroids" in 2011 along with "Slow Dance to Soft Rock" in 2010 and The Front Bottoms' self-titled album in 2011. It is clear why it appears on the LP "Summer of Steroids" when you hear the reoccurring line, "as the summer I was taking steroids" and recognize the keyboards from "More Than It Hurts." Despite the story this song strings together being about the narrator changing themselves to fit the mold of someone else it feels upbeat, from the buzzy open cymbal and keyboards.
3. Water-Gun-Knife
From the EP "My Grandma vs. Pneumonia" in 2009 "Water-Gun-Knife" is another one of The Front Bottoms' more low-fi songs. Along with keyboards, open cymbal and Stella's honest voice there are lines where multiple voices come in and there is something about the addition of those voices that make this song for me. This is another upbeat song but those voices bring in the sunny feelings of togetherness. That these are a group of friends agreeing together that "there are things we could do to make ourselves stand out, but we won't; no, we won't."
4. Swear To God The Devil Made Me Do It
This song appears on the EP "Talon of the Hawk" from 2013 and is said by Genius to have almost been used as the title of the album. The song starts off with the sounds of a spaceship before it plunges into the instruments and the lyrics "space age crystals, I've been growing 'em since I was a kid." Stella then goes on to sing about how he can save the listener because "I know CPR, I know mouth-to-mouth."
5. Plastic Flowers
"Plastic Flowers" is the most recent song I chose to add, from the 2015 EP "Back On Top." It starts off with long notes on an organ before a guitar and then drums come in, which is what drew me to this song. While it is on the longer side, "Plastic Flowers" is one of The Front Bottoms more optimistic songs. After all the lyrics "they say the good thing about plastic flowers is you could spray them with any type of perfume" is believed to mean that even though cheap plastic flowers aren't as good as real flowers there is an upside, that you can make them smell like anything.
6. Tie Dye Dragon
As the sixth song "Tie Dye Dragon" is the one new song on the EP "Ann." Even though I enjoy listening to the song, I believe that you must watch the music video as well. To describe it in one word I would have to say it's an oddity. While your ears are hearing lyrics like "I was on LSD when I saved that family" and "I see the future in mysterious ways, I'm just a tie dye dragon," your eyes are watching as a masked woman runs her hands over a table covered with fruits, vegetables and in the center Stella's head.
