Male Bonding

About two months ago I was cruising around the internet when I stumbled upon MALE BONDING's myspace page. The name is what caught my eye initially, as it was one of the ideas we had for naming RAPID YOUTH before discovering that it had already been taken. I saw that they had a few splits with rad bands like PENS and GRAFFITI ISLAND so I decided to give them a listen. The first song I listened to was "Pirate Key", starting off with no real indication of where it was going to go, and then blasting off into the happiest celebration of pop music via no wave I've heard in a while. The drumming is beyond on point. In fact, it destroys the point and creates a whole new point altogether. Working around the drums is a combination of aggressive guitar and catchy bass. It is obvious that the members (Robin Christian, John Webb, and Kevin Hendrix) have an impressive combination of pop and punk sensibility, interwoven with fierce musicianship and a fun attitude. "Years Not Long" is an even more impressive display of that tight and aggressive sound with it's hyper-speed drums and clamoring guitar and bass setting the canvas nicely for an almost Ramones-esque sing along chant. They list Nirvana, Screamers, and The Wipers as their influences, all of which make sense. I also see shades of Sonic Youth, early Touch and Go, and The Minutemen. Despite running their record label, PARADISE VENDORS INC, and having two of the members fully involved with the band PRE, these dudes still manage to be completely productive and active. Male Bonding has a whole gang of splits and compilations coming this year out as well as a tape of their own so keep tabs on them, I feel like their future is only going to get brighter.

Male Bonding's Myspace Page

Paradise Vendors Myspace