photo credit: Frontside
Written by Killian O’Neil
Twelve years ago, somewhere in the sacred lands of North Carolina, three guys decided to form a band and “create music that would not only be catchy for any listener but would also satiate their urge to add a more technically impressive dimension to their songs.”
That band is known today as Frontside. Two weeks ago, if somebody asked me “Have you heard of Frontside!?”, my response would have been “like the way you do a skate trick?”. Now the answer would be a tad different. For a girl like me who’s kryptonite has been pop-punk bands for the last 15+ years, discovering Frontside has been quite the treat. I was able to have a chat with them about their upcoming EP Closer to Closure that drops February 5, 2021, via Revival Recordings. After listening to their single “Einstein Killed Me,” I had more questions than answers. And in this case, that is a great problem to have.
One of my many questions surrounding this release was how it came to fruition. “Closer To Closure was originally slated to be an independent release to fill time between two full-lengths. After signing on with Revival Recordings, we took more time to push the release appropriately. Major influences at the time of writing this EP would definitely be Coheed and Cambria (always!) and a lesser-known band that we all love named Damiera.
At first, I was a little puzzled when they referenced that Coheed and Cambria was a musical influence at first, but after further investigation, there was no denying it. Take away the vocals and you can hear where they have influenced their sound.
Listening to the single, “Einstein Killed Me,” instantly reminded me of “Have Faith In Me” by A Day to Remember. The track kicked in my nostalgia for my teen years and had my head spinning with even more questions. One thing I needed to know was about the abstract title “Einstein Killed Me.”
“Funny enough, ‘Einstein Killed Me’ was the name of a band that some of us were a part of in high school. The name is a nod to those early roots and the song stuck out as a single with the perfect blend of progressive and pop-rock sounds,” the band explains.
Speaking of roots, I was curious when Closer To Closure was written, after they explained the first single was written several years ago. Why now to release it?
“These songs were actually some of the first-ever written as a band. Many of them never saw a proper release (or release at all!) but we felt they needed to be given the opportunity to shine in our catalog as we still incorporate many of these into our live set,” the band admitted.
Each song is powerful in its own way, but I wanted to know what the band thought was the most powerful song on the record.
“I’d honestly say “Einstein Killed Me” is the most powerful, as it presents various moods from start to finish, but one of the unreleased tracks, “Smith,” may be one of the most emotional tracks of our catalog. We’re expecting many tears to be shed when that song drops with the EP release.”
The pop-punk scene is like the red-headed stepchild of the music industry, in my opinion, everyone wants to hate on it but everyone secretly loves it. Now that 2020 is finally coming to an end anyone who has either been submerged in the genre or watching from the sidelines is seeing it coming back with a vengeance. I had to get Frontside’s opinion on that fact alone and how they feel about everything in regards to the music industry.
I asked them next, how they felt about the pop-punk scene coming back. They said, “I think it’s good for us as are typically grouped in with pop-punk acts. I would not say that we’re married to the title of a pop-punk band – if our fans wanted to start calling us post-punk, emo, progressive rock, etc, I’d be quick to embrace any of that. Being tied to the genre too much will only disappoint fans when we release a post-hardcore song or a gut-wrenching emo song. But we do all love pop-punk and will be happy to open up for Blink-182 once shows come back.”
Music is one of the very things that is keeping people sane these days. Finding out that Closer To Closure is on the horizon for 2021 is super exciting. This last year has been a year that everyone has been winging with a breath and a prayer, especially those of us in the entertainment industry. It’s always an added light at the end of the tunnel when you hear musicians putting out new music. Don’t forget to check out Closer To Closure when it drops February 5, 2021.
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