Male Bonding, Let’s Wrestle, Sauna Youth
Buffalo Bar, London
14/07/2011

As the Buffalo Bar begins to fill up on its 10th birthday, to the sound of Nicki Minaj blasting from the PA, the stage is adorned with a desecrated Guns N’ Roses flag, with ‘MALE BONDING’ scratched crudely above Axl and co. Such brash audacity sums up this band’s ethos perfectly, which is frustrating when we’ve got a word count to adhere to.

It can be tough being subjective when a band is so exciting. Sauna Youth are one member down, vocalist Rich Phoenix “doing a Phil Collins” on the drums, but their searing, bratty punk-rock is intense and restless. All songs above 200bpm, they are breathless and breathtaking in equal measure, crowning their slot with a Ramones cover. If this is Sauna Youth restricted by absence, it’s worth keeping an ear open for the full-strength line-up.

Let’s Wrestle, fresh from recording their Steve Albini-produced record, blend garage-rock chords and earnest, honest lyricism, and blast through new tracks like ‘Dear John’. They’ve got riffs bigger than Andre The Giant and a coy onstage presence that belies the sheer velocity and volume of their set.

Now for the headliners. Either we’ve been to the wrong gigs or normally, new material doesn’t go down this well. While old favourites like ‘Year’s Not Long’ permeate well, the most frantic movement was reserved for the new tracks from Male Bonding’s second full length ‘Endless Now’, with characteristic understated vocals and ferocious fretwork, soundtracking the frenzied joy of scores of jostling skinny-jeaned teens. Towards the end, the set drags a little; it’s clearly tiring work maintaining such high energy levels, John Arthur Webb at times struggling to make himself heard amongst the noise, but that’s a small complaint for what is a hugely impressive show.

Euan L Davidson