Tag Archives: Male Bonding

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Nothing Hurts [2010]

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Band: Male Bonding
Release: 5/2010
Label: Sub Pop

1. “Year’s Not Long” – A-
2. “All Things This Way” – B+
3. “Your Contact” – A-
4. “Weird Feelings” – A-
5. “Franklin” – B+
6. “Crooked Scene” – A
7. “T.U.F.F” – B+
8. “Nothing Remains” – A-
9. “Nothing Use To Hurt” – B+
10. “Pirate Key” – B
11. “Paradise Vendors” – A-
12. “Pumpkin” – A-
13. “Worst to Come” – A-

Comments: A band that did not excite me at all live, Male Bonding was actually a “band that I wanted to like.” Could the record make up for their lackluster performance? The answer is “yes!” I’m sort of glad this record isn’t of a terribly low fidelity. Thank you… Sub Pop? Anyway, there are really fun spots in a bunch of these songs. For example, the hook in “Your Contact” is welcoming and the high string notes in “Weird Feelings” save the song from drum-centricness. For some kind of modern reference point, I’d have to point in the direction of Abe Vigoda. Male Bonding is from Dalston, England, which would seem to be like the California of that country, but it really isn’t that at all. I’m getting tropical vibes on “Crooked Scene,” although it may just be the structure of that song that conjures Abe. A casual or first time listener might have alarms going off in their head along the lines of: song A sounds like song B sounds like C. That kind of sucks as it’s hard to make distinctions between tracks, especially at the early stages of familiarity. At other times, the group sounds like Wavves. Bottom line: is this good? Yes. Is it great? Sometimes. There’s even Vivian Girls’ Cassie Ramone singing on the last track.

Grade: B+ (89)

concert review, Entertainment, Music

Concert Review: Vivian Girls, Male Bonding, You Can Be A Wesley @ Great Scott (3/8/10)

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Bands: Vivian Girls, Male Bonding, You Can Be A Wesley
Venue: Great Scott (Allston, MA)
Date: Monday, March 8, 2010

Act One – You Can Be A Wesley – I really liked this band. They rocked out and genuinely seemed passionate about playing music. That said, the vocals weren’t that loud and the drums really took precedent. Also, the band had a guy take care of playing videos on the screen behind the drummer. That was a bit unnecessary in my opinion and almost pigeon holes the band as just your average opening act. They weren’t just your average opening act, though. They’re better than that and judging from the audience’s response, it seems like they’ve built quite a local following. The jams weren’t exactly assaults on the ear, but they were straight up rockers. Awkward band name.

Act Two – Male Bonding – First, props to the guitarist/singer for having stickers of No Age and Happy Birthday on his little effects pedal bag. Second, I should have liked this band more than I did. They definitely had a No Age + bass thing going on. The extremely thick reverb on the vocals ruined it for me. I couldn’t make out a word (literally) that was sung, so they might as well just have put the mics aside. The drummer was getting quite a workout beating the shit out of his drum kit. The guitars were very similar in each song. Straight up punk riffs with some deviation. No one song really struck me as particularly awesome, though. It was basically a case of “oooh, this again. I get it.” Awkward band name.

Act Three – Vivian Girls – I should have done my homework. I heard most of Vivian Girls’ catalog last summer, but I never really got around to consistently listening to the Girls. It’s a shame, though, that I didn’t make much of an effort to at least re-listen to Everything Goes Wrong, an album that I awarded a really high grade to back in September. The two songs that I recognized were “When I’m Gone” and “Before I Start to Cry.” The latter was really amazing and the former just as awesome. The twelve or so other songs played during the group’s half hour set were affectionate and catchy. They showcased two new songs, which were great. I feel really bad that I couldn’t recognize the other tracks! Seriously, you don’t know how bad I feel. I feel like a casual fan! I guess, at the end of the day, that is what I am.

Grade: B/B-

Entertainment, Music, News

VIVIAN GIRLS @ GREAT SCOTT

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Vivian Girls, the last remaining great all-girl group that put out a record in 2009, will be playing at Allston’s Great Scott on March 8. Unfortunately for some folks that might suck because it’s on a Monday night. Tickets are $10 and are available for purchase at the venue or online. Opening for the Girls will be Male Bonding, a pretty sweet UK noise/garage outfit.