The Front Bottoms Flood Us With a Nice Taste of Oddball Pop

Straight from New Jersey I give you The Front Bottoms. These two gentlemen pack a lot of strange into one 3:10 song, that song being "Raining" Brian Sella does vocal duty here and he quite clearly embraces the strangeness he's peddling. Matthew Uychich smacks drums here and how off to the races he gets. What needs to be said about the video. Brian (I presume anyway) wanders from the hospital straight into a party where all his matea are waiting for him and he takes many bizarre twists and turns along the way. I'm surprised at how bubbly the song is given this is an escaped patient we're talking about here. Nevertheless The Front Bottoms harmonize beautifully. Way to do more with less. I don't think I am really sure what that voice affectation is that provides giggle moments throughout. I guess it'll have to remain a closely guarded secret. Let's hope The Front Bottoms doesn't end up in that category because it succeeds in getting your attention with programmer friendly indie-pop that willfully holds onto its eccentric sensibilities. On a clear sunny day "Raining" wouldn't be out of place. In fact, when the band was noodling around in the recording studio composing the song, who thought "Raining" would be an appropriate title. It hasn't stricken me with Seasonal Affectation Disorder. There are no Kleenex boxes in view. It's extremely easy to like. Even the lyrics aren't too unbearable. How could you be grief stricken over a song that shares lines like "We went flying over all the trees to see a house built by a mafia member."? Isn't possible in my book. Brian doesn't appear to be the most level headed cat if the video's any indication. He's still wearing his hospital bracelet for cripes sake. But anyway "Raining" sounds perfectly okay when placed in the framework of a corny cross town trek. When the bridge comes into play, what wonderful chaos Brian and Matthew make. Where did that explosion come from? Again, maybe it's best left alone as a magical secret. Brian goes from feeling all torn up to needing magic just to fall asleep. What a miraculous transformation. All the while Brian asks "How do you think that felt?" Rest assured he has brushes with feeling "absolute fantastic". One doesn't expect such a rosy outcome to the video but there have it. It's all smiles, festive, uproarious but...THE DAMN BRACELET'S STILL ON HIS WRIST!! Could be something in the water over in Woodcliff Lake or some really choice LSD. Either way The Front Bottoms make abashed merry and don't care who knows it. "Rsining" smacks you across the face like a bracing April shower. Looking forward to new insanity real soon. Took 'em over a decade to seize their moment but here they show they're ready to shine.