Endless Now feels more considered than the thrashing hedonism of their debut, like a band torn between the thrills of youthful anomie, and the soft-bedded structure of maturity. The songs meander around themes of change, from ‘Before It’s Gone’’s quarter-life missive “feeling so much older than I used to feel” to ‘What’s That Scene’’s forlorn confessional: “Everything I have done. Everything went wrong”.

A somewhat odd lament from vocalist John Arthur Webb, considering that, in the last few years at least, it didn’t go too badly at all. Clattering onto a 2010 scene already ten a penny with lo-fi frenzied pop-punkers – with No Age, Vivian Girls et al leading the fray, Male Bonding earned themselves a deal with Sub Pop, a rare feat for a British band. And from Endless Now’s opening track ‘Tame The Sun’ with it’s galloping drums, golden-hued guitar shuffles – and those hooks, those delirious, serotonin fed hooks that leap gracefully from verse to verse, Male Bonding prove again that they’re worthy of such an accolade.

There’s something familiar about every song on Endless Now, that in just a few listens becomes as comforting as a cosy cardigan. Maybe it’s the Strokes like stomping intro on ‘Bones’, or the rushing, sun-in-your-eyes It’s a Shame About Ray era Lemonheads chorus on ‘Seems to Notice Now’, or maybe even the faint whiff of Fugazi inspired post-hardcore throbbing on ‘Mysteries complete’. It’s a collection of influences that’s produced one perfectly formed track after another, sure it’s predictable, but it’s clap happily contagious and utterly addictive.

But it’s also forward facing, the lick of extra production is a notable progression from manic Bleach Nirvana-like fuzz of Nothing Hurts. The flashes of personal reflection give a peep-hole insight into the considered evolution of a band seemingly on the cusp between brilliantly vacuous head-racing fuzz, and, as they mature, it’s inevitable ennui. For the moment, however, Endless Now is worth every repeat play it’s inevitably going to get.