I Wish I Love Male Bonding More Than I Do

'Cause I'd totally get their logo tattooed.

Male Bonding at the Electric Owl

October 21, 2011
The Electric Owl
Vancouver, British Columbia

I arrived at the Electric Owl about fifteen minutes before London, UK noise-pop-punks Male Bonding took the stage. I rarely skip opening acts, but I didn't know who was playing, and my roommate and I had a couple of guests over, so I wanted to head over as late as possible.

Male Bonding tore through their sixteen-song set loud and clear. However, "clear" didn't mean flawlessly executed: the music sounded really good overall, but the vocals were nearly inaudible. Furthermore, some of the guitar parts didn't really come through, such as lead singer John Arthur Webb's solo on "Weird Feelings."

Maybe Male Bonding are just normally a "get it done" kind of band, but judging but their straightforwardness, short set and obvious tech problems (they, on more than one occasion, asked for more sound on the drums and guitars ... and I think bass too), I got the sense that they weren’t exactly thrilled to have been at the Electric Owl. Furthermore, the band didn't really acknowledge the crowd until the end of the show, though I can't remember what they said. Perhaps that was due to the lack of volume on the vocal mics or because they just didn't say anything noteworthy.

I know Male Bonding aren't a huge band, but I still expected a new buzz band such as them to have been better-attended. Maybe they felt the same way. Maybe they actually were accustomed to bigger, more enthusiastic turnouts. Regardless, hypotheticals aside, those of us who were enthusiastic (all six of us at the very front of the stage) made ourselves known. I'd never moved ("danced") so much in such a non-compact space. I always feel a bit weird doing so when I'm not packed like a sardine in a crushed tin box.

As soon as the last song "Year's Not Long" ended, I grabbed John's set list and headed home. I didn't stick around for an encore (which is also rare of me), in the hope of catching the last of my and my roommates' guests' company.

Free Download: Male Bonding - "Bones" (Sub Pop Records, 2011)

British punk-rock band Male Bonding, who made their full-length debut last year with Nothing Hurts on Sub Pop Records, are returning with their new album Endless Now on August 30. A couple of weeks ago, they released for free download their first new song from Endless Now called "Bones." To download that track, just plug in your e-mail at Male Bonding's Sub Pop Records page.

Male Bonding promised a sleeker, more expansive sound on their new album. I don't know about sleeker, but "Bones" is more expansive for sure. The band is in no rush here, taking its time over six-and-a-half minutes to create mood rather than quick bursts of buzzsaw punk (the longest song on their first album is 2:45). Based on "Bones" alone, I'm going to be optimistically presumptuous and say we probably won't have to worry about Male Bonding's new album being a flop.

And just because I don't write about Male Bonding very often, here's a smattering of my favourite tracks from Nothing Hurts:

"Weird Feelings"

"Year's Not Long"

"All Things This Way"

"T.U.F.F."