So I finally sat down with my good set of headphones and a vinyl copy of this record when I had some time to myself. I dropped the needle on the band’s full-length debut and lay back with the liner notes as these three Londoners were firing through “Year’s not Long,” already one of my favourite songs of the year with its major scale hooks and furious sixteenth note strumming. In the midst of guitar noise, reverb settings stolen from Abe Vigoda, double time drums, half time drums, and inprecise chord changes, you can catch that almost all of John Arthur Webb’s lyrics are about temporality, living in the moment, etc. etc., which gives the whole of Nothing Hurts that arty and poetic edge. Unfolding the liner notes, I discovered a huge photo of the three stylish guys looking up at the camera and the name Male Bonding splashed under them. Right then and there I wanted to scotch tape it to my wall and scream along for weeks on end. (Sub Pop, www.subpop.com) Taylor Burgess