The first thing that I thought of when I saw the front cover of  'Nothing Hurts' by the London based three piece Male Bonding', was 'Man Feeling' the dubiously named band from the hit Channel 4 series Peep Show. Eek. Things did not look good for this 13 track sub-pop recording, but being one for giving these things a go, I pressed play on my stereo and got on with some work.

28.6 minutes later my relief was visible.

Male Bonding will inevitably draw comparisons to weareinvolved favourites 'Jeff and the Botherhood' and 'Japandroids', and this comparison is justified and mutually flattering. Like so much these days, this band has already been mindlessly labeled as 'lo-fi', but for me its routes lie in the post Nirvana world, with heavy unsanitised guitar work and a light hazy vocal that deserves to be played both loudly and regularly.

It came out a while ago now, but this is my album of the week.

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