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It’d be hard to argue that the frigid electro-pop anthems of ADULT., especially the ones on 2001’s Resuscitation, are anything short of immortal, and in some circles, ubiquitous. ADULT., of course, pre-dated the unfortunate and horribly non-descriptive “electroclash” label, which in the earliest part of this century was bandied about in reference to anything involving a synthesizer, and was also used to describe clothing, friends, food, and pets. Thankfully, “electroclash” is no longer used analogously to how The Smurfs used the word “smurf,” though I still don’t think it really ever meant anything to begin with, but the point is, before synths were back in vogue with the indie set, ADULT. was creating straight forward, sterile synth-pop in the classic sense, sounding like The Normal if The Normal had a female vocalist and had released more than one 7”, and doing it near perfectly. But most everyone knows that story, and with D.U.M.E., the Detroit duo has changed things up quite a bit from the unabashedly and mechanically angst-ridden dance-pop of days past, in a way that wasn’t even foretold in 2003’s more stripped down Anxiety Always. The icy aesthetic of old remains, the flawlessly constructed analogue synth-lines and classic drum machines, but things have gotten a whole lot darker, at least for this non-Ersatz Audio released EP. The result is ADULT. reaching genuinely frightening places, with darker undertones taking precedence over danceable sensibility, though by no means entirely subverting it. Begin with the artwork. We find singer Nicola Kuperus’s photography ornamenting the cover, and it’s more unsettling than it usually is. Skulls and ominous black birds in the middle of a still life? One gets the impression that this EP might not quite offer the dance party fodder we’ve come to expect. Then the first 20 seconds or so of “Hold Your Breath” happen, with familiar synthed handclaps and ultra tinny drum machines accompanying a classically intense ADULT. melody. But then there’s a surprisingly discordant electronic clang, and Kuperus starts singing. I mean, she’s singing, trading her characteristically restrained, rhythmic, robotic monotone for something in the vein of (I won’t hesitate to use the g-word on this one) some sort of gothic banshee. Yes, Nicola Kuperus can sing, and does so like a crazy person – like a female Danny Elfman, not the movie soundtrack writing Danny Elfman, but the freaky-as-al-hell, perpetually wide-eyed Elfman of the earliest, artiest days of Oingo Boingo, voice hiccupping every which way with a frenzied passion over a dark, minimal-synth and bass dance beat. Kuperus encourages you to “Hold your breath now, for a long time/hold your breath now, for a lifetime,” and you realize after a moment of trying that holding ones breath for an entire lifetime drastically reduces one’s lifespan. Even more unfamiliar territory is explored as the disc continues into a few slow electro-dirges, with reference points ranging as far into the dark direction as Joy Division or early, pre-First and Last and Always Sisters of Mercy while still drawing from ADULT.’s characteristic analogue arsenal. The dissonant, screaming guitars of “The End,” reverberating drum machine march of “Get Me Out” that recalls Suicide – the band and quite possibly the act, and the repetitive drone of the cryptically threatening “D.U.M.E.” all seem to indicate an unapologetic shift into more brooding places, and “Don’t Talk (Redux)”, an old b-side reworked to include Kuperus’s newly adopted, solidly maddened vocal style seems to confirm it. But then again, can a mere six tracks mark a drastic stylistic overhaul? This remains to be seen, as ADULT. prepare themselves for a tour and an upcoming full-length. Whether it’s just an EP long foray into an electro-death-punk netherworld or an expression of a darkened musical worldview from here on out, ADULT. have succeeded in creating a disc of intense and moody electronic music that is anything but cartoonish (as so many bands who actually define themselves within the “dark electronic” genre tend to be). As ADULT. brave the few blank-stares that fans might give D.U.M.E., the duo show that they’re largely unconcerned with adherence to any particular categorization (after all, they’ve been erroneously pigeonholed as representing about seven different genres in as many years). They’ve done so with an EP as uniquely ADULT. as it is unique for ADULT.—Matthew Stern |
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