Issue 1 - Contribute to the Chaos

TFB Zine issue 1, Live performances

Thank you so much to everyone who made this happen

Covert art by Jennifer Palomaa @jenniferpalomaa

Tay Tutes: @taytuteur.illo

Chrissy

Adam Kaz

Caleb @khahlev

Crossword by Emmit Clark

Mark Jaworski

Editing: Emmit Clark

Image by Tay Tutes

EASTER EGGS IN IS&IF

Written by Chrissy

CAMOUFLAGE 

“Just let me take you on vacation/ just like I promised / I mean, obviously I’m distant”  is similar to the spoken word bridge in Vacation Town. 

“I probably look a psycho” calls back to West Virginia “right now I’m just a psycho/ hell bent on self destruction” 

“how did I get here” which parallels maps “how did I get here/ where the hell am I”.   (Thank you Ciana E!) 

JERK

“Shouldn’t think about my own life/ because the only thing I’m wasting is my own time”  is a callback to Peach “You say I should think about my life/  because once I Finally hit the ground/ who's gonna drag me into the light”

“Things like that don’t matter”  is juxtaposed with “my attitude and outlook/ realize now it matters” in everyone blooms. Might be a less direct connection, but that part of everyone blooms reminds me of the themes of Funny You Should Ask. 

MONTGOMERY FOREVER 

The poem at the end references “If You’re Happy” from the unreleased ep I Hate my Friends: “and if you’re happy/ well then you’re happy / we could leave it at that” (got this from Genius lyrics annotation) 

Also from beers “My friends are happy, I'm happy, I've learned to adapt” (thank you Carlos C!) 

THE HARD WAY 

“First I came, Then I crashed” in the hard way is a callback to Father “as soon as I come/ you will probably forget my name/ I hope I fall asleep at the wheel/ and crash my car.” 

LEAF PILE

As many have noticed, the start of leaf pile is the same as the start of Vacation Town - “I wanna be that...” 

In Bae, you realize the crew you roll with is actually the one that makes you anxious. In leaf pile, “Do I seem anxious to you? ... I cut some ties with a few good friends” 

“It was all to see who could ride a motorcycle faster/As for me I still believe”

is directly from Sexy and Alive demo. 

The idea of “still believing” is also referenced in  love at first sight. Also reminds me of Plastic Flowers for this reason. 

The line “you stole my notebooks and now you’re reading” reminds me of (and makes me cry about) their old song Hello World from My Grandma Vs Pneumonia: “But I am a grown-up/ so I should find something to occupy my time/ Instead of notebooks filled with nonsense/ Looking for answers I'll never find”

leaf pile says “Montgomery Forever” -  I know this one blows your mind. 

NEW SONG D

“You were selling me a bike” as a callback to Rhode Island “I could borrow a bike to get back home”. (Thanks Kevin B ) 

The echo on the last chorus in New Song D (at 3:44 - “my days are too young, my nights are too old”) reminds me so much of the bass is too loud. (Thanks Hannah B ) 

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

The whole song is in reference to the trip that they used for the Summer Shandy video. 

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 

The “I still believe” reference. 

This might be a super stretch but this line 

“But once I realize what makes you nervous/ Never again / It doesn't seem worth it” feels juxtaposed to this line from Mountain “I love your eyes/ the way they look/ when you’re uncomfortable.” 

The reference to a knife in the last part of the song reminds me of Talon of the Hawk. 

BUS BEAT 

“But in this moment moment together I have never felt so far away” felt similar to “In this moment / you were everything” from Bathtub. 

“You like doing nothing/ I’ve got nothing to do” reminded me of two lines about “nothing” - “nothing matters the importance of nothing” and “some nights there’s something cool do / some nights there’s nothing to do at all.” 

MAKE WAY 

“If I ask a question I should wait for an answer”  juxtaposed with another line from Hello World “it goes question / and then question / answers don’t come so easy.” 

“I did a front flip getting out of the car” made me laugh and think of the song title Backflip. 

Of course “My name is Steven” is a direct reference to Summer Shandy.

Image by Emmit Clark

@29_minutes on twitter A chilly autumn night in 2018 after just having come out to my parents, blasted some tfb (hooped earrings, swimming pool, today is not real, twin size mattress) to lift my spirits up and got ready to take on the world.

Twin Size Mattress Cover Reviews

Adam Kaz

I don’t mean to insult their talent—I mean the opposite, really—but The Front Bottoms always sounded to me like a couple of dudes that learned their instruments in a friends’ basement last summer and just kept earnestly playing whatever came to mind until someone built a stage underneath. Sella, though a master showman and lyricist, we can agree, does not have a technically

impressive, or even necessarily good voice; and many of their songs will someday surely become beginner guitar staples for the generation raised by Gen Zers (god help them). Fans know what sets the band apart is not their skillset as musicians, but rather their sheer enthusiasm and brilliant, honest lyrics. In many ways The Front Bottoms are living out the oldest singer-songwriter cliche: What they lack in musicianship they make up for in sincere originality. Their work is uniquely theirs.

Which is why The Front Bottoms are a difficult but enticing band for cover artists. Enticing because their resonant lyrics are practically begging to be screamed out from the windows of suburban bedrooms all across the United States. But difficult because an attempt to capture The Front Bottoms’ signature qualities—voice cracking anxious intonations, back-of-the-throat excited yelping — could so easily devolve into an embarrassing impersonation. At the same time, though, there’s a reason their music is so powerful, and when a cover artist strays too far from the song’s original qualities they risk losing what made it worthwhile in the first place. It’s a balancing act.

I saw more than a few cover artists attempt this difficult tight rope walk in my YouTube search results for “Front Bottoms Twin Size Mattress Cover.”

1. “twin size mattress // the front bottoms - m.e g acoustic”

by Megan Taylor (3/5 stars)

A special shoutout must be paid to Megan Taylor who with 32,316 views leads the way as the most popular on my list. Shot in 2015, in artsy black in white so as to provoke the original music video, Megan’s video has her floating to the left of the frame with her guitar as her only accompaniment. The tempo is markedly slower than the original; and her voice, affected by a truly adorable Scottish

accent, is much, much softer than anything you’re likely to hear on a Front Bottoms album. There’s a dream pop element to her cover reminiscent of Kississippi, a sort of waviness, like a lullaby. And, at least at the start, the arrangement does seem purpose built for lulling its listener to sleep. She gets more confident as the song progresses, but at the beginning her softness reads as uncertainty or

disinterested. At about the 1:20 mark she picks up, rises to the excitement and delivers a more impassioned performance. Still, Megan was far from the most

talented or entertaining in my search.

Art by Kristle Kalinowski

2. “The Front Bottoms-Twin Size Mattress Cover”

by What Blows West (4/5 stars)

This video looks like it will someday resurface at the drummer’s wedding as an embarrassing reminder of his hairstyle choices circa. 2017. At 359 views What Blows West’s cover is the most obscure on my list. I wanted a video that felt like a relic, like something uploaded in an afternoon and forgotten for years. A band’s early, awkward musical sketches. And I definitely hit the jackpot in terms of awkwardness. These two guys, ages between 12 and 16, do not quite have their stage presence down; they’re stiff, they’re handing of the song’s F Bomb wasn’t entirely elegant, and the lead singer’s voice cracking seems like a weak Sella

impersonation. Immediate points must be deducted for the music stand - rookie move. But I’ll give them a couple points back for set design; the video is shot in someone’s front yard on a beautiful summer day, and it’s a virtual I-Spy of lawn care appliances. There are, however, bits of talent peaking through their imperfections. The guitar solo is flame, and it’s clear both musicians are stretching the most out of their abilities. If they come back with better vocals and stage presence, they’d be in pretty good shape.

3. “The Front Bottoms - Twin Size Mattress (Cover)”

by Anry Guiltar (5/5)

In many ways this cover is what the lead singer of What Blows the West could accomplish with just a few more years of practice. The inexperienced What Blows West lacks a voice, but Anry Guiltar definitely does not have that problem. Anry in this video achieves a cover that simultaneously pays homage to the original while infusing his own style and talent. Guiltar clearly isn’t the most talented singer in the world, but, much like Sella, his voice has its own quality that makes it stand apart from the rest. There’s a guttural strain to it similar to Pat the Bunny. In fact, I think my approval of his cover has a lot to do with his similarities to Pat the Bunny and Andrew Jackson Jihad, of that acoustic, angry, almost-unhinged vibe. All this goes to say that Anry appears to me like a stellar showman in a video that features only him, his guitar, a white wall, and some dirty laundry.

Art by Caleb @khahlev

Goodbye

East Of Eden

If you’re leaving for the night

Say au revoir like you always do

Those two words mean more than you know

They’re a promise to meet again

The little smile you wear as you depart

Insight into the coming days ahead

If you’re leaving for forever

Do not give me the hope

Just say goodbye and leave

Hide the smile, keep the words

This parting will be the last

We shall not meet again

An interview with Mark Jaworski

Emmit Clark

“This record was my favorite to work on with these guys, and the twitch

documentaries really show why I feel that way. I’ve never been one to make super long-term plans and that’s always been the way we’ve approached our collaborations together. That keeps things fresh and means that when we hit on an idea, we go at it with as much excitement as possible.”

E: How long have you been with the band? Specifically how long have you been doing film and photography for them?

M: I’ve been photographing The Front Bottoms since around 2006 if my

memory serves me well. So going on 15 years now.

E: What has been your favorite video to film so far?

M: My favorite videos to film were probably all the Twitch documentaries we put out over the summer. Super laid back and authentic, just doing our thing. Then again Summer Shandy may take the prize because we all got to go out to Alaska which was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. West Virginia was the most satisfying to be done with, but the lead up to it along with the shoot itself was actually pretty stressful for me.

E: If you could film in any location what would it be?

M: Egypt, for sure. I’d love to drag them over there with me sometime. I have all sorts of great ideas floating around in my head and know we’d make something really special out there.

E: How do you feel about the drive in shows and are you excited for the

continuation of them?

M: The drive-in shows were a very magical thing for me to experience. Coming out of a very dark and isolated time, that feeling of togetherness alongside the live music was like everything everybody was missing for so long just hit us all at once. I get goosebumps when I watch the footage for those shows. I couldn’t be more excited for the shows next week* and really hope this vibe continues long after the world is right side up again. It’s just a laid-back way to see a show and it was clear how much everybody enjoyed it.

*Editors note “Next week” here refers to the week of October 28th 2020