Thrill Jockey
The collection of 12" singles from the Detroit group came right in themidst of a slew of other retro-analogue electro acts a few years back,but was unique enough to stand out from the crowd. I liked the childishsimplicity and cold, rigid plasticity of Adult's repetitive beats, andthe humorously reductive, robotic lyrics of Nicola Kuperus ("Do youhave a phone/I need to accommodate/My communication needs"). Thepurist, technological aesthetic of all the releases on their ErsatzAudio label, including Kuperus' series of "dead secretary" photographsadded a great visual element to the odd postmodern satire, and theirlive shows were also quite a lot of fun. Not satisfied to continuallyinhabit the same synthetic, climate-controlled interiors forever, Adultstretched out on their follow-up album Anxiety Always,producing an aggravating concoction of minimal techno and brutallyascetic no-wave that I still find very difficult to listen to. With D.U.M.E.,their first release for Thrill Jockey, Adult go further down the samerabbit hole, leaving behind their Detroit techno roots for increasinglydarker and pricklier post-punk territories. The result is an album evenless approachable, a series of anally retentive goth pastiches thathighlight Kuperus' deliberately piercing, grating vocals. Noisy stabsof subterranean guitar, spiky psychedelic touches and simplisticprogrammed beats give these songs the feel of early Cure, Tuxedomoon orDNA music stuffed into tiny, vacuum-sealed plastic containers and leftaround for 20 years. When the seal is removed, the stink hits you rightin the face, relentlessly obnoxious and quite repellant. I think Adultdeserve some praise for so single-mindedly pursuing a sound so angular,ascetic and uncommercial that most will not even get all the waythrough a three-minute song. However, in their dogged stylisticpursuits, they leave the listener far behind, choking on their toxicexhaust. I couldn't help but notice how Kuperus' confrontational vocalsare a pitch-perfect recreation of the "Me and My Rhythm Box"performance from the film Liquid Sky, which was a welcomereminder. However, it's something I can only take in very small doses.And though this EP is only 16 minutes long, it's already far too muchto take in all at once.samples:
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