(Sub Pop/Stomp)

Bonding… Male Bonding

UK trio Male Bonding are the latest in a long line of garage and punk-oriented rock bands to gain some attention. It seems that these bands are generally either the lo-fi, feedback-laden kind or the clean, shiny kind. Male Bonding fall into the latter category, but which group you belong to doesn’t matter as long as you’ve got a good guitar sound and plenty of hooks. Year’s Not Long get things off to an energetic start but All Things This Way, at a spritely 1:29, is what puts the album on the right track. Actually, everything here is short and sweet, with no song exceeding three minutes. The melancholic Franklin is a quieter song, leaving out the big riffs without resorting to the typical ‘we can do ballads too!’ type of track that’s often thrown in on these albums. At times Nothing Hurts get bogged down with vanilla punk-pop: tracks like Crooked Scene and Nothing Remains are a little too inoffensive and forgettable. Nothing Used To Hurt sees that element of their sound put to better use, balancing poppy sweetness with a palette-cleansing burst of guitar noise. T.U.F.F. and Paradise Vendors are endowed with churning, purposeful riffs that ensure Male Bonding fulfil their good guitar sound obligation. Pirate Key and Pumpkin showcase some diversity in the band’s sound, while acoustic closer Worse To Come features the always-delightful Vivian Girls. This is an album with some bright moments and some dull ones, but the 29 minutes here whiz by with ease.

***½

MICHAEL PINCOTT

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