Album Review: Male Bonding – Endless Now
After last year’s scuzzy but critically acclaimed debut ‘Nothing Hurts’, Londoners Male Bonding are back with their second album ‘Endless Now’. Although it’s only been a year it’s quite noticeable how the band have grown in that time, they still produce melodic, lo-fi, indie pop but this time round the songs are a little more polished and a lot more melodic. Fortunately, unlike peers Pains Of Being Pure At Heart whose disappointing second album sounded like it had had all the band’s personality and individuality sucked out of it, in this instance that extra polish has helped to create an album even better than its predecessor. ‘Endless Now’ was recorded in New York and produced by John Angello, who previously worked with Thurston Moore and Dinosaur Jr, and his influence can be heard all over the album. Lasting just over 35 minutes, ‘Endless Now’ contains eleven gloriously noisy, infectious pop songs played at breakneck speeds. Lead by ferocious drum beats that enter through your ears and explode out of your heart, the guitars are played, picked and thrashed as they weave magnificent tunes to accompany John Webb’s reverb laden vocal. With seemingly limitless reserves of energy, the pace of the album never lets up and though the production values may have increased a little they only serve to give the band a fuller sound. Play loud! 9/10
Mark Cousens
Out now on SubPop
