First/Last-Cold Fronts

"Craig Almquist and Al Smith formed Cold Fronts in 2011. They developed a fan base in West Philadelphia while performing a year-long residency at the infamous Rathaus, which was dubbed “Satan’s dorm room” in the Philadelphia papers. During their final show at 'the Rat' 300 people showed up and the police dispersed the hard- partying audience while the band finished their 1am set. After camping out in a tent during SXSW '12 (while simultaneously crashing hotel rooms at Austin's Driskill), Sire Records founder Seymour Stein saw Cold Fronts start a dance party next to a hot dog stand and took a copy of their debut EP. Three hundred days later the band signed to Warner Bros. Records and is now working on their full length. One time Andrew W.K. destroyed their drum set. Another time Danger Mouse bought them $20 Budweisers. The band will be on the road in 2013, doing what bands do, playing live shows of material they have recorded. They will also be eating pizza, a lot of pizza."

Check out the band at their official Website, Facebook, BandCamp and Twitter. The band have just been signed to Warner/Sire and I want to thank Craig Almquist (Guitar/Vocals) and Al Smith (Drums) for taking a few minutes to participate in this edition of First.Last.

The first album you ever bought?
Craig Almquist: I remember buying “Asto Lounge” by Smash Mouth when I was in fifth grade. Wore that one out pretty hard.
Alex Smith: Bob Marley “Greatest Hits” on cassette. Tried to buy Ozzy (“Ozzmosis”) but my Mom wouldn’t let me.

Your last album bought?
Craig: That new Bad Books album. It's got some hits on it. I like Andy and Kevin's writing so much.
Alex: Marco Benevento "This is How it Goes" 7''.

Favorite album of all time?
Craig: “Pinkerton” by Weezer. Hands down most catchy, personal, rockin' album. I found a few mp3's on my brothers Winamp player when I was in middle school and it's struck a chord with me ever since.
Alex: Hard to say but “Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson is in the running as well as Grateful Dead "Europe 72".

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
Craig: I'm not trying to make any enemies but I do recall not being overly stoked with the G.O.O.D Music album “Cruel Summer”, mostly because I thought it was gonna be a Kanye West album and it wasn't.

First concert attended?
Craig: Saves The Day in Lancaster Pa. I had been to shows before but this was the first show I got to go to on a school night without any parents! I believe they were touring on “Stay What You Are”.
Alex: Maynard Ferguson Big Band.

Last concert?
Craig: Just saw Jeff The Brotherhood at Kung Fu Necktie in Philly. It was a great bill, Bad Doctors and Hunters opened and it was super fun.
Alex: So So Glos album release at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn.

Favorite concert ever?
Craig: My favorite concert this year was Diarrhea Planet. I caught them at in Texas and randomly walked into the show and saw a bunch of friends from all over. It was the coolest most rockin' show I had seen, very inspiring, and I didn't know a word to any of their songs. They have four guitars!
Alex: Herbie Hancock at Bonnaroo.

Least favorite concert?
Craig: Saw Bob Dylan at Hershey Park. No disrespect to Bobby D, but, it was boring.
Alex: Third Eye Blind at York College. Best part of the show was the drum solo.

Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
Craig: We always have a blast when we're in Pittsburgh. A lot of our friends live there, literally every show we've played their rules, and we've incorporated "yinz" into our everyday conversations.
Alex: Love Spak Brothers restaurant! My great grandparents are from PGH so I naturally love it. Shout out to my roommate from Squirrel Hill, and also I love the strip district, cause they got cheap T-shirts and that Polish deli.

Thanks, fellas. Congrats on the record deal. Looking forward to killer records from you guys in the future!