Album Review

Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts

• 3rd Jun 2010

Thirteen songs in twenty nine minutes, the longest clocking in at 2:45 is Male Bonding’s debut – a statement of intent, if ever there was one. Debut’s that pack so much in so quickly either go one of two ways: they either lack substance and subsequently a record is created that feels hollow and trite, or they manage to create an album that flows seamlessly with consistently wonderful pop songs. This album falls under the latter, thankfully.

The album shifts gears through a multitude of genre’s, primarily punk/pop/grunge and tropical/surf guitar, sometimes they all come to fruition into one glorious song, ‘TUFF’ is perhaps the most clear-cut example of this –amalgamating all the bands multifaceted qualities into one magnificent pop gem. One surprising element realised is that for a band that is fundamentally a punk band, the amount of cowbell used is quite remarkable and even more surprising is how effective it is – instead of cheapening the experience it adds depth and vibrancy to the rhythmic qualities of the record – in fact, in retrospect, one wonders how songs like ‘Nothing Used To Hurt’ could possibly work without the use of it. The vocals hang low in the mix throughout the record, almost taking a back seat and letting the melodies and rhythmic forces take the driving seat and the ensuing journey is a joy to be taken on.

One thing that really transpires from this record, is its feeling of ease – both as an end result to the listener to digest and also from the perspective of the band, it feels like it’s churned out seamlessly. ‘Pumpkin’ is a tropical-fused ball-buster that is as smooth as it is raucous, and is better than anything released by the likes of bands such as Vampire Weekend, yet it will be more overlooked than anything Vampire weekend have ever released. It’s an exuberant and youthful record that never tires and due to its short time-frame makes you want to just hit ‘play’ all over again – which you will be doing all summer.