“Going Grey” Pales in Comparison

I remember sitting on my bed in 2014, listening to The Front Bottoms’s “Talon of the Hawk,” thinking to my angsty, seventh-grade self that it was one of the best albums ever made. The heaviness of the lyrics, juxtaposed with the upbeat, almost cheerful sound of lead singer Brian Sella’s gritty vocals, was definitely something new to me. Over the years, The Front Bottoms has created a name for itself through exactly that—Sella’s unique voice and plucky acoustic guitar.

However, these characteristics of the band’s early music are, for the most part, missing from their sixth album, released October 13, 2017. “Going Grey” is the culmination of The Front Bottoms’s 10 years on the music scene, and as the title suggests, Sella and drummer Mathew Uychich are growing up; their hair is turning grey.

It is their cleanest and most vocally mature album, but at the expense of its original, unique sound. Gone is much of Sella’s boyish, high-pitched voice that many fans were initially attracted to because it was something different from other alternative bands. Instead, the album features more grounded, lower-pitched vocals that no longer distinguish the band from any other band on Spotify’s Indie Rock playlist.

Tracks like “Trampoline” take the biggest step away from the band’s original sound, integrating synthesizers into the melody. The chorus is almost Daft Punk-esque, but not nearly as well done. Rather, it sounds like two little boys experimenting with electronic music, neither of whom fully know what he is doing. Too often, the work of Auto-Tune is clearly heard, especially on the dragged-out notes of “Grand Finale” and “Far Drive.” Sella’s voice feels restricted as a result of this sonic tweaking, ultimately taking away from these emotion-heavy tracks. In short, the sound is less raw emotion and more toying with electronic pop.

Content-wise, the songs on “Going Grey” are extremely similar to those of previous works, with focuses on the cyclic joys and woes of relationships, nostalgia, and deep and inconsolable sadness. But none of the lyrics in the 11 songs featured on the album are particularly profound or thought-provoking. From “A temple of daddy” in “Don’t Fill Up On Chips” to “Sometimes when we’re together/We’re not together” in “Trampoline,” the lyrics are not inspiring in any way. Sella is capable of penning meaningful words, as exemplified in the line from the band’s 2013 hit “Twin Size Mattress,” “This is for the lake that me and my friends swim in.../And it should've felt good but I could hear the Jaws theme song on repeat in the back of my mind.” The change in lyrical complexity begs the question: how did we get from there to here?

However, there are still little nuggets of gold in the album, such as “Bae,” which is not as cringey and terrible as the title suggests. The Front Bottoms flips the idea of a “bae” on its head, instead putting forth the concept that the best relationships are not necessarily the most glamorous. The song is immediately catchy, opening with Uychich’s steady, thumping drum beat. The thrumming guitar in the chorus compels the listener to sing, “I gotta move my car, I gotta move your couch/I learned that love tastes good, you shoved it in my mouth,” with Sella.

Another noteworthy song is “Raining,” the track most closely resembling their old music, as Sella swaps his newfound mature voice for the raw, imperfect voice that rocketed the New Jersey band to fame in the obscure alternative world. In true Front Bottoms fashion, the exuberant guitar beat and Sella’s cheery crooning of, “How do you think that felt for me” creates a sharp contrast with the gravitas of the subject matter: being released from the hospital but still feeling “all torn up.”

Sella’s desire for sonic development is certainly admirable, and “Going Grey” is not a total leap to another genre of music. While there are tracks that experiment with new sound, others are reminiscent of the band’s original music. However, for the casual listener who has not listened to the band’s previous albums, what “Going Grey” lacks most is organization. It’s more of a jumbled mess than a coherent, deliberately crafted album. There is no real theme recurring throughout the album, linking the songs together. There is no unity in the album; songs are strung together simply so that there is an order to them rather than to make a statement.

The Front Bottoms’ sixth album is not unenjoyable, but it doesn’t dazzle. It isn’t as inspiring and heart-wrenching as “Talon of the Hawk,” but it is a commendable attempt at a new direction for the band.