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Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

There’s more to them than just noise...

Rating: 5

It was their dirt-punk onslaughts that got MB signed to Sub Pop, but ‘Nothing Hurts’ proves there’s more to them than just noise. The best moments are the sweetest: ‘Franklin’ shimmers like the ghost of a Beach Boys demo, but the scrappy ‘All Things This Way’ and ‘Paradise Vendors’ marry doo-wop harmonies to fuzzed-out garage rock and hint at more depth than is immediately apparent. Trouble is, after one listen it becomes evident that MB hardly benefit from further investigation – they’re just another hipster band who got lucky. Which is a shame, as they’ve obviously got a bit of spark…

Ben Patashnik