I was looking for some new Rock to listen to and was very impressed with this mini-review of a "Male Bonding"
Male Bonding's songs are fast, noisy, and full of hooks, a combination that might remind you of any number of things: Nirvana-era fuzz-pedal stompers, 1990s American indie rockers, Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr. followers, not-quite-shoegazer English bands. Like a lot of those acts-- and like their contemporaries in No Age and Abe Vigoda-- Male Bonding started out making more abrasive music. But with Male Bonding, part of the treat is hearing them jump out of ultra-lo-fi scene and find room in the wide-open field where amped-up, rangy punk stuff collides with tuneful slacker pop. The hustle, the energy, and the sheer number of hooks make this an easy album to love-- especially if you're in the mood for some feedback and punk-rock energy along with your melodies.
So I bought the first song on the CD and thought, "I could probably get into this, but I don't know if I have the patience to deal with lo-fi at the moment". A couple days later I pulled the trigger, and have been generally impressed.
Over the last couple of weekend I got familiar with the album, and thoguh Ican clearly say it is very good, I am frustrated by its tweeny-ness. I mean, these guys an aural equivalent of that rabit/duck optical illusion. . One listen I think they are Dinosaur Jr except with 2k indy pop vocals, and then the next listen they are an Pitchfork darling inpy pop band (a la Pains of Being Pure of heart), hiding behind extra guitars and low production values. Of course it doen't matter one bit, the distinction is only in my head,but I could help but fiddle with it.
Today I saw that they had a video posted on pitchfork, and while it was playing, I started writing this post, with the theme 'it's alright to be confused', but as I glanced back at the video, halfway through the song, I became less sure of myself. Watch and Find out why.
Anyhow, for a good song without all the mixed messages, try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yeQlJmPXk (Anti Warning: This is just audio. ) (Anti Warning #2: Starts Noisy, gets cowbelly )
