So if you have read this column at all regularly, you’ll notice I’ve got a bit of a semi for British 3-piece Male Bonding. Their simplistic pummel has been pretty joyous to my ears over the last year or so, even if it has been via terribly recorded tracks released on Paradise Vendors compilations or splits with the likes of Eat Skull. No more! Their debut LP, Nothing Hurts, is out on Sub Pop in May, and here’s a taster of their scrubbed-up pop racket. The most noticeable thing for me on the new tracks is the bass. As in, it exists. You can hear it. It doesn’t add much to the mix on much of Nothing Hurts, but on T.U.F.F, everything manages to mix in superrrbly. The vocal hook is effectively a better version of Paradise Vendors (which didn’t translate into album material well at all), and as long as you can endure brief cowbell spasms, you should come through this one alive and happy. The albums hit and miss, but it’s hits are worth the album. It’s what, 28 minutes long or something anyway?
