Male Bonding: Endless Now

Male Bonding
Endless Now
Sub Pop Records [2011]









Fire Note Says: Male Bonding make a quick return with their second Sub Pop release Endless Now.

Album Review:
Endless Now finds the UK's Male Bonding coming out of their shell a bit on their second release for Sub Pop records. On their stellar Nothing Hurts release last year, Male Bonding came at you fast and fuzzed up but Endless Now has a much more refined sound in that aspect, as the vocals are tuned up a tad and the fuzz is lowered. This brings out a more hook filled record that takes on a slightly different vibe for the band. Going in this more mature direction, Male Bonding lose some of their uniqueness but do build several catchy numbers like the memorable hook filled rockers "What's The Scene?" and "Seems To Notice Now". "Can't Dream" takes on a very Nirvanaish feel to it, while lead track "Tame The Sun" has the smooth vocal delivery of a Teenage Fanclub. The only real factor holding Endless Now back from the comparable greatness of Nothing Hurts is that after taking the album for a ride, several of the songs become a little hard to differentiate as they have the same style musically and vocally. This still does not hold Male Bonding back too much here because on the songs that catch your ear the bands talent really shines. This is also a promising record for what the future holds because Male Bonding continues to evolve and what comes next might just be great!

Key Tracks: "Seems To Notice Now", "What's That Scene?", "Tame The Sun"

Bands With Similar Fire:
Teenage Fanclub
Wavves
Hüsker Dü

Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts [Fire Note Review 5/18/10]

Male Bonding Website
Male Bonding Facebook
Sub Pop Records

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony