The Front Bottoms have fallen a bit flat on their latest release, Talon Of The Hawk. The duo’s follow-up to their self-titled collection lacks some of the charm that made the band stand out in the first place. However, Talon Of The Hawk does have its own grace; it just stumbles a bit before standing on its own. Despite this, The Front Bottoms really have executed some serious solid and much fuller sounding songs for this release, expanding to include more instruments in the recording and on stage.
The tongue-in-cheek opener, “Au Revoir (Adios),” immediately adds some spunk to the disc with its drunken bar song-like narrative about a breakup that turns into a bouncy piece towards the male’s perspective. Further down the tracklist, “Peach” brings a sweet and tangy nectar to Talon Of The Hawk with a subtle boost of energy in the form of a slightly vomit-inducing love song. The cute comparisons and softness makes “Peach” a number that can easily have multiple replays. “Backflip” begins to close out the disc with self-acceptance tones, making for a feel-good number that anyone can hold near to them and fall back on during rough times.
Talon Of The Hawk is catchy with witty and smart lyrics mixed in. However, it may take more than one listen to fully appreciate the album as a whole, as there will certainly be songs that pop out from the first listen.
In A Word: Rough
