Adult

Adult is Detroit's duo of Jack Vulpine (Adam Lee Miller) and android vocalist Nicola Kuperus, one of the original purveyors of electroclash before the term was invented. Their theatrical fusion of disco-music, punk-rock and dissonant electronica permeates the EPs Dispassionate Furniture (Ersatz Audio, 1998), Modern Romantics (Electrecord, 1998), credited to Plasma Co, and Entertainment (Ersatz Audio, 1999), including Human Wreck. Hand to Phone (2001) became one of the electro-clash classics.

The album Resuscitation collects their best singles and remixes.

Anxiety Always (Ersatz Audio, 2003) is a more visceral and violent work, that highlights their punk personas. The fibrillating tension of Shake Your Head evokes the rituals of Suicide in a disco context. The instrumental vignette Nervous stands as the manifesto of their futurism drenched in contemporary neuroses. The beat is relentless, leading through the sarcastic Chinese ballet of Turn Your Back and the detached rap-like declamation Blank Eyed Nose Bleed. The rhythmic attack peaks with People You Can Confuse, that could be an old Public Enemy call to arms. The melody rarely prevails. In fact, the closer Kick In The Shin is the only one that could qualify as a synth-pop song. Virtually nothing is original (not even the sound of the keyboards), simply recycling old ideas for a new generation.

Suck The Air/ High Heels On Tile Floors (Ersatz) and the EP D.U.M.E. (Thrill Jockey, 2005), with Hold Your Breath, document their transition towards a harsher sound.

Insanity makes further inroads into Adult's sound on Gimmie Trouble (Thrill Jockey, 2005), thanks mainly to the maturation of Nicola Kuperus' vocal style and a new member, guitarist Sam Consiglio. Strange Mistakes, Turn Into Fever, In My Nerves, Seal Me In, Helen Bach are schizophrenic workouts that redefine their mission in music, while Bad Idea, Lovely Love and Still Waiting, the tracks that more closely resemble their electroclash roots, sound naively redundant at this point.

Why Bother (Thrill Jockey, 2007), returning to old slimmer line-up, further refined the soundtrack to Adult's permanent existential crisis by increasing the amount of industrial music that they inject in their already disjointed punk structures. Unfortunately, only a few tracks (notably Inclined to Vomit and I Feel Worse When I'm With You) sound convincing. Too many sound like occasional music of different purpose and aesthetic, lumped together only to make an album.