Following 2020’s uncharacteristically mournful In Sickness & in Flames, the Front Bottoms’s You Are Who You Hang Out With boasts all of the charm and whimsy that we had previously come to expect from the New Jersey duo. But even the album’s deepest moments are underscored by poppy melodies and spirited drumbeats. Despite its lively beat, for example, “Fake Gold” is a lyrical gut-punch: “You may or may not be/Always on my mind/And it may or may not seem/Like you’re leaving me behind.”
Most of the tracks on the album similarly juxtapose lyrics about the hardships of life in one’s mid-30s with buoyant musical accompaniment. Singer-guitarist Brian Sella describes feelings of insecurity, hopelessness, and directionless—“Basically all I need is a clear path/Yeah, a clear path”—atop an arrangement of bristling guitars, crisp drums, and handclaps.
The motif of being lost and searching for a way out of one’s own mess is repeated throughout You Are Who You Hang Out With, culminating on the poignant closing track, “Finding Your Way Home.” Sella seeks to “settle down” but seems ambivalent, adding, “If that means/Finding your way home/You got to go/If that means/Running far away/I’ll let you know.”
That ambivalence is often embodied by a juxtaposition between the band’s introspective ruminations and explosions of sound. The aptly titled “Emotional” bursts into melodic chaos in its back half, complete with chugging, reverberated guitar, a frenetic drum pattern, and the sound of barking dogs. Elsewhere, “Batman” finds Sella chanting the album’s title ad nauseam as drummer Mat Uychich pounds out a vivacious rhythm.
A reflection of its title, You Are Who You Hang Out With stands as a testament to the synergy between Sella and Uychich, who weave a brilliant tapestry of infectious riffage, energetic beats, and melancholic mantras. The album not only reasserts the dynamism of the Front Bottoms’s music, but the universal truth that connections with others have a profound impact on our journeys, influencing the art we create and the essence of who we become.
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