Sounds on the Ground #16: Male Bonding
By: Steve Rose
What's the deal? Hoxton heroes, wearing converse, tote bags and a smorgus-board of tie die and plaid shirts, just like every one else in East London. Yet MB break the idle, pretentious, time waster cliche, and play in as many bands as possible, help out US counterparts such as the Mae Shi and Geffrey Darger inspired Vivian Girls, release their own records, blog (http://malebondingblog.blogspot.com) and hold down full time occupations.
Since their inauguration almost a year ago, this "turbocharged trio from East London, who play dynamite lo-fi noise-pop", have shown a real determination to support absolutely anyone under the sun, for a bargain price each time. With 2009's sunny season upon us, it's possibly the time for Male Bonding to blossom, with their high energy, fun filled, tropical inspired punk pop, perfect for summer smash hits! Complete with telephone microphones, heavily reverberating vocals, prickly surf guitars and amazing poly rhythmic drums, Male Bonding are here to melt your face (in the nicest possible way).
This 'gang of three', house mates, also play together in US-focused, mythical London band Pre. Yet they eschew the coldness of their other band and their 1970's counterparts, in favour of Abe Vigoda style tropical warmth, with quintessentially British, Blur-esque even, pop sensibilities.
When can I see them live: Unusually for Male Bonding they currently only have one show confirmed - this being the Bodega in Nottingham with The Strange Boys on the 16th of August. No doubt more London shows will appear, along with a UK and possibly even a US tour, that will undoubtedly be coming shortly...
What can I listen to: www.myspace.com/malebonding - an obvious choice. Featuring 'Pumpkin', 'Pirate Key', 'Years Not Long' and a variety of other songs, off of the plethora of tapes, splits and seven inches that Male Bonding have recently put out. They are on a Flipper covers' 12" out soon on Domino Records, along with Ponytail and Abe Vigoda/No Age Big Band, and a split with Eat Skull on the marvellous Tough Love Records. Expect an album in the not too distant future... excitingly rumoured to be on an extremely large and respectable American Independent (grunge?) label!!!
We all know music peaked in 1994, so give me a sound-bite about how we could compare them to some kind of obscure band from the Britpop era: Male Bonding are without doubt the new Blur. Drenched in reverb, soaked in fun, and riding around East London on bicycles like Supergrass in the ‘Alright’ video! Woo hoo!
Artists in this article: Male Bonding