Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts (Sub Pop)

I sure have a thing for fast paced lo-fi music. From the pioneers of indie, Pavement, to the pop masters, Guided By Voices, it's all so addictive to me. The London indie punk rockers of Male Bonding push to limits of fast indie punk and get the job done on their debut Nothing Hurts in half an hour making for a very traditional lo-fi LP.

Nothing Hurts is full of hooks and foggy transitions ("Franklin"). The LP seems to flow together in a mass of noisy pop sound that is meant to be played in its entirety. Before you know it, from one heavy guitar riffs to the next, the record is done leaving more excitement. You sometimes will not even realize that the song has changed. Most songs clock in around two minutes, reminding many of the classic punk album Pink Flag by Wire and the lo-fi masterpiece of Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices.

But, besides from being short, fast and heavy, Nothing Hurts brings in a very atmospheric song, "Franklin". It sounds a bit like the classic The Smiths and other big '80s brit indie. Lead singer John Arthur Webb sings of many loses and the inevitable truths; ("All this won't last forever"). Another very surprising break from the noisy pop is "Worse To Come" a very acoustic feel that sounds like it was recorded live.

Indeed, a lot of the songs sound like somebody just put a 4-track on the ground and they happen to just play right through the album in the recording studio. I absolutely love that sound; the raw integrity and grit that bands put together and show that human mistake is natural. Although I do love studio trickery and perfect quality of bands like Pink Floyd and Radiohead seem to always do (did). But, the lo-fi recording quality that bands do just always puts a smile on my face. It reminds me that maybe I could actually do some of that.

Male Bonding may not be for everybody but they're full of hooks and fun rock anthems that will leave you saying, "hmm that sounded pretty darn good". If you enjoy Wire, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Minutemen, and other punk-pop lo-fi masters, you'll love these London noise-poppers.

Overall: 8.1/10

Track Listing:

1. Year's Not Long - 8.5 *
2. All Things This Way - 7.5
3. Your Contact - 8.0
4. Weird Feeling - 7.5
5. Franklin - 9.0 *
6. Crooked Scene - 8.0
7. T.U.F.F. - 8.0
8. Nothing Remains - 8.5
9. Nothing Use To Hurt - 8.5 *
10. Pirate Key - 8.0
11. Paradise Vendors - 8.0
12. Pumpkin - 8.5
13. Worse To Come - 8.5 *

* - Notable Track

Sample:

"Year's Not Long (Live)"