London’s MALE BONDING at Vancouver’s Electric Owl: GALLERY/REVIEW


John & Nathan, Male Bonding, pic by Mikala Taylor/BackstageRider.com

You know you’re at a hipster show when you make a joke about the “guy in the toque” (beanie/knit hat for you Americans) and your friend asks “which one”? Such was the crowd as East Lahhhndon foursome Male Bonding (now! With added live guitarist Nathan Hewitt from Cheatahs!) at the Electric Owl Lounge in Vancouver on October 21st.

But whatever – hipsters can sometimes be appreciative, fingers-on-the-pulse indie rock punk pop soothsayers who comb through underground blogs to find the next Sub Pop buzz band. And so, we hipsters present: Male Bonding! Whom I really dig! Who live in my former London ‘hood! Who are typically a trio – John Arthur Webb, Kevin Hendrick, Robin Silas Christian – and whom have a new album Endless Now! An album that crunches and wails and yet layers some pretty awesome shoegaze and hooks in! It’s like Dinosaur Jr. meets Ride! The Pale Saints guitars when they rocked out! The English band Revolver not the French one!

Yeah, something like that.

And despite jetlag and singer/lead guitarist John’s sorta lack-of-engagement, they rallied most sportingly through about 16 or so songs both new and old (from 2010’s  Nothing Hurts), with “Tame the Sun” and “Bones” sounding pretty vast while “T.U.F.F.” “Pumpkin” and “Weird Feelings” were each an expeditious 2 minutes of awesome. Because really, two minutes or so is all a good punk pop song needs.  Mmm, yeah, nice one Male Bonding. Good Friday night. Next time, us hipsters might share you with a few others. \m/


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