The Front Bottoms specialize in the peculiar twist. (The band’s name is maybe the best childish, allegedly profane, formulation for a private body part in our language.)
On their recent single, “Vacation Town,” there’s a line that goes like this: “I miss walking naked through the backyard to get to the outdoor shower/I miss the way things used to be.” Some songwriters might strive to make a song “relatable” or universal, but the Front Bottoms know that it’s the odd detail that catches people’s attention, hence that bit about the outdoor shower.
They have something in common with Weezer, They Might Be Giants and the Mountain Goats, taking a kind of nerdy alienation and weaponizing it with distortion, smarts or laser-focus candor. “Back before I got struck by lightning, things were so much different than they are now,” sings frontman Brian Sella on “Ginger,” off the band’s 2015 album “Back On Top.”
The New Jersey duo just released their new record, “Going Grey,” on October 13. (Tickets to the show include access to a digital download of the album.) There’s an emo-folk emotional nakedness and careful hyper-enunciation but also a healthy sense of humor to offset the atmosphere of suburban anguish.
The Front Bottoms play College Street Music Hall, 238 College St., New Haven, on Friday, Oct. 20, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $23.50 to $35. collegestreetmusichall.com.
