There are two camps of those who attend a performance made up of the claustrophobic neo no-wave electropunk composed, arranged and produced by Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller. The first group are those who are only familiar with early Resuscitation-era ADULT., from when they were sterile and sounding remotely of Berlin (and, fortunately, I mean the city and not the band). The second are those to whom the band ADULT. is entirely unfamiliar.

It’s easier in a live setting for ADULT. to win over the second group, as their current sound is more crushed Ritalin mixed with Adderall and bloodletting than the cold muted white IKEA electro toned that formerly trademarked their 12” of dance-floor apathy, most notably and memorably the anti-communication ode “Hand To Phone”. It’s that song that made them and that song that earned them both their place in “This Is Electroclash” history and parody-if you don’t believe me, check out Kevin Blechdom’s awesome in-joke “Always Frank”, which nails, to the blank-eyed head-turn and snarl, the early sound of ADULT.

Kevin Blechdom: Always Frank

Since their second actual compact disc release, Anxiety Always, Adam and Nicola have had a job fit for graduate Marketing student in terms of re-establishing their mission statement, their idea, their ADULT. brand. It’s been through no lack of their own efforts-from the mathy drone of Gimmie Trouble to the ungodly paranoid fusion of rave and noise that is Why Bother?, this is obviously not your Winter Music Conference ADULT. Most, however, have stepped away from the table, mistakenly labeling the newer ADULT. output as something less than what they fell in love with.

It’s in their live show that ADULT. take this misconception, hold it up to blinding red and yellow strobe lighting, and shred it to bloody, pulpy bits. The duo each have their parts to play in this Theatre De Anxiety-Adam, the barely moving, nearly-invisible behind-the scenes orchestrator, with his bass slung low and deep, and Nicola the worst nightmare torrent of moaning, shrieking and in-your-face aggression, lit from below and behind as though a walking ad for proof that scurvy leads to schizophrenia.

The Why Bother? Tour, at least its one-night stop in Atlanta (with a crowd somewhere between the capacity crowd Atlanta date and the 10-person plus Chan “Cat Power” Marshall attendance of the Athens show from 2005), is, as is the titular album release, the perfect amalgam of all ADULT. that has come before. Fittingly, they completely ignore both D.U.M.E. and Gimmie Trouble songs all together-both albums were written and recorded with perma-not third member Sam Consiglio of Tamion 12”, and their absence both allows a silent acknowledgment of his presence while allocating set-space for songs neglected last time ‘round. During a conversation with Consiglio before the Atlanta “Gimmie Trouble” show, he asked me if I wanted to hear anything specific that night. When I requested Anxiety Always staples “Shake Your Head” and “Kick In The Shins” he shook his head sadly. “Can’t play ‘em, didn’t bring the equipment for that programming”, he told me. This time, laptop-possessing, gear-heavy and stripped of moving parts (other than the banshee whirlwind that is Kuperus’ stage presence), those two songs rail out of Nicola and Adam in a neo-punk fashion, sped up, stripped of glamor and razor-sharp. Resuscitation’s “Minors at Nite” is less mournful and now spiteful, and the new songs, specifically the hardcore head-fuck “I Feel Worse When I’m With You”, became essentially unbearable.

All in all, it’s absolutely amazing, and an experience in having one’s internal panic button pushed to collapse.

It’s weird to be a devoted, up-to-date fan of this stuff, though, because there are inevitable those in the audience who are there for the opening band, and who scream things like “play a song about KRISTIIIN WOOOHOOO” and then point to their sequined halter-top wearing friend. From the stage, though, this goes ignored. However, the standard response when the request comes (as it always does) for “Hand To Phone” is to simply turn the fucking noise up. I spent about fifteen minutes in Athens attempting to convince Nicola to attempt a stripped-down, sped-up, reconstructed version of the piece of her own work she loathes most, in a fashion similar in concept to Blind Melon’s SNL version of “No Rain” (though minus the patchouli, hopefully). That hasn’t happened, to my knowledge, and on this night, “Plagued By Fear” kills that fuss.

It’s that very, very evident disdain, held by Nicola (and Adam also, I assume) for all things early in the maturation of ADULT. that caused my jaw to drop when the closing double-hit medly (a now-tradition of ADULT. shows) consisted of early, forgotten moments-their “telephone game” 12” “Don’t You Stop” and “Nite Life”, a long-lost single on Ghostly’s Disco Nouveau compilation. They’re bitter, they’re pointed, and, when Nicola marches into the crowd like, to borrow wording from R. Kelly, “a ghost from the dead” and begins a half-taunt dance with the crowd, it’s simultaneously creepy and amazing.

This is a band that knows how to push a crowd against the music, against themselves, and into a frenzied, paranoid fit of disbelief and excitement. Unfortunately, those who could be won over from expecting the sound of particleboard hitting a tin toaster in 4/4 time would never give the more-grown ADULT. the time of day. As such, it’s best to view this as an entirely new band, a no-wave neo-proto-post-punk electronic drone duo, one made of angst, noise, and that beloved anxiety. It’s an unwieldy, uncomfortable label, but then the music of ADULT. is nothing if not uncomfortable.

ADULT.: Don’t You Stop

ADULT.: Nite Life

Our review of Why Bother?

ADULT. online