



"Dude, it's Mat - can you bring a drill?"

It had been five months since I had last seen The Front Bottoms, Brian, Matt, Tom & Ciaran. In that time, they've dropped Talon Of The Hawk - their second full length LP on Bar/None, and toured pretty much non-stop. And it shows - their live show is insanely energetic, just as it always was. But it's tighter, more professional. Brian even does stretches before going on stage these days. The tour family is the same, swelling to include newcomer and full time excellent human being Allison Weiss as support for this run, but some things stay the same. The first time I catch them is a London show. No barrier, a ton of press. Matt busts out an acoustic number for a meeting he didn't know he had, and then the band play a show to a crowd that at times pushes their way on to the stage and through the instruments. Brian dedicates "Father" to his dad at the side of the stage. The audience seem puzzled (have you heard that song? awkward!. It of course is not his dad) And by the end of the night, everyone is drenched in sweat and beer.

Mat has killed a cymbal. Hence the drill (it stops a crack spreading top tip for all you aspiring punx). And so it was that the next night we were backstage, in a club that looked suspiciously like it might be a strip club on any other day (there was a pole. And the overpowering scent of cocoa body butter) where Matt was casually doing DIY on his instruments. Jon Tolley, owner of Banquet Records, who is responsible for putting Talon out in the UK got talking to me, and he hit the nail on the head. "It doesn't matter if it's Indy, or dance, or punk. It's honest, and it's original. And that's why the audiences keep getting bigger". He's a smart man, that Jon Tolley.The Front Bottoms start another US tour next week (once they get back from Canada - they haven't been resting or anything) and are back in the UK in February/March supporting Presidents of the USA. Get out there and see them. Just don't believe a word Brian says from stage.





-Ben Morse, photographer, videographer, number one Front Bottoms fan