I keep on hearing all this stuff about Justice. All this stuff, really, about all this hot, twisted electronic music coming out of various camps in France (or Switzerland, or New York-same thing, right?).

I’ve listened to the Klaxons, I’ve listened to Justice, I listened to the god-awful Teddy Bears album that was supposed to change the freaking world last year, and I don’t hear what everyone else hears-the anxious, jerky, nervous energy that’s both heart-accelerating and heart-stopping.

And then, just in time to cause my heart rate to accelerate to a dangerous high and push me to a knees-to-chest panic attack in the best way possible, there’s a new ADULT. album.

Make no mistake- ADULT., the husband and wife team of Nicole Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller remains one of the most cutting-edge bands in existence right now, but in recent years (read as: since 2005’s spitsnarl Gimmie Trouble) they’ve pushed the limits of what eviscerating, confrontational punk mixed with the most atonal, harshest electronic sounds can do. And, with Why Bother?, they’ve created a No-Rave masterpiece (and again, accompanied by the most fun-to-read press sheet I’ll see this year).

In ADULT.’s mind, this is a folk record. An album discussing the common experience. In the case of ADULT., that common experience is as it’s always been-the extreme social anxiety and phobia from day-to-day interaction. However, if the folk you’re thinking of is the soothing, coffee-house and atlas sound of Sufjan, or the hipster acoustic-freak of Joanna Newsom or Devendra Beardhart, erm, Banhart, Why Bother will sound like a beautiful, brilliant atonal crush of a sonic palette-and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a record that will either send you running towards or away from the speakers, to bury your head in safety or to bury your head in the sound.

Prior to this album, there’s always been a sense of melody accompanying even the harshest thrashes of ADULT.-now, however, in place of the jerky-yet-hummable “In My Nerves” (from Gimmie Trouble) is the ferocious, stormy hardcore rave meets hardcore punk anti-love letter “I Feel Worse When I’m With You”. Similar sentiments are echoed on the throat-shredding “I’m Inclined To Vomit”, which sees Nicola Kuperus upping her vocal ante-last record she started singing, this album she begins fucking killing. There’s a homage to their Crass-esque roots in the muddled, confrontational vocals of “You Don’t Worry Enough”, but there’s also an off-kilter, jerky no-wave snap that’s enough to break the hips and spine of any passerby (if, that is, they aren’t destroyed).

With the departure of the “permanent/not permanent” Gimmie Trouble-era third member, Tamion 12” bassist Sam Consiglio, ADULT. have behind the earthly trappings of any real instruments, instead beating the fuck out of their Moogs and drum machines until they become the sound of Paxil withdrawal. All in all, Why Bother? has, finally, the perfect marriage of sound and idea, intensity and echo (see the instrumental “Importance of Being Folk” compositions that bookend the album), insanity and venom that Adam and Nicole have always reached for-this time, however, they’ve pushed their electronics to the limit, and not in that obnoxious “robots-on-parade” bullshit way that heralded the Electroclash scene. No, ADULT. have now positioned themselves as the poster-children for the shirt-and-tie social-phobic electronic punk folkster army, and there’s no longer any turning back.. Not only are ADULT. your favorite punk band, they just killed your favorite folk band.

ADULT.:Inclined To Vomit

From Why Bother?-a ripping freak-out of an ode to social nausea, and one of the most fierce things ADULT.’ve ever done.

ADULT.: Don’t Talk (Redux)

A D.U.M.E. reworking of one of ADULT.’s oldest tracks-it’s the moment, at the end, when an army of Nicolas close in, insisting “don’t talk, just listen”, that this song reaches new heights of paranoia.

On Why Bother?, ADULT. return to making gloriously harsh instrumental tracks. This, the first Why Bother? vid, collects all three parts of “Importance of Being Folk” into one story, directed by Adam and Nicola themselves.

Ah, the tragecomic not-lovestory that is “I Feel Worse When I’m With You”, again directed by ADULT.

Buy Why Bother? at Thrill Jockey

ADULT. online