Adult. @ The Grog Shop, Cleveland 05.10.07

Adult. returned to Cleveland last night and renewed my faith in them with a brief but fantastic set. Thankfully, they are once again a duo after the departure of Samuel Consiglio who briefly joined them on their previous album and tour. They've kept much of the intensity from their experiment as a trio but scrapped the extra guitar and I couldn't be happier.

Nicola commented several times of a cold/sinus infection/whatever, but it was not apparent in her performance although I suspect they shortened the set because of it. Minor technical difficulties also affected their plans for the evening. Fortunately, neither illness nor equipment failures kept them from pumping out a blistering and intricate collection of both old and new to the small but enthusiastic crowd. Hopefully they'll make another stop in Cleveland this year and give us more.

As for the opening acts, Plasma For Guns started the evening off with a self-indulgent mess of a set. A handful of friends joined them on stage for most of the performance and at least THEY had a good time. The rest of us, not so much. It was more of a spectacle then anything else; a private party on stage while the rest of us politely waited for what we came for.

Jerk was up next...and hey, they made Plasma For Guns seem not so bad! Score one for PFG. Jerk spewed out a handful of ridiculously unfinished pieces of songs full of crappy speed metal, random screams, bodily noises, and poorly-formed beats which caused quite a few pained expressions amongst the crowd and gave the smokers plenty of time to step out for a fix. Oddly, they actually apologized for what was by far the best song of their set; mumbling something about it rambling and that it was OK if we didn't like it. True, I didn't like it...but I didn't outright hate it like all the rest. Thankfully their set was over in what seemed like 15 minutes, or an eternity depending on how you look at it.

New Adult.!

One day there will be more to see here...but for now, why not another Adult.-related post!? Sure! I was excited to learn the new Adult. CD Why Bother? will be out in a few short weeks; 3/20/2007 on Thrill Jocky Records.

There's no Cleveland tour date listed yet but my fingers are crossed. I'm eager to see them live again as a duo. In the meantime, I've pre-ordered the disc and will try to patiently await its arrival.

Check out Why Bother? at Thrill Jockey's web site.

Adult. @ The Grog Shop, Cleveland 12.03.05

Well, Adult.'s live performance turned out to be much like their new CD; loud, shrill, and just not the same as it was a few years back when they visited this venue. I'm not saying bands can't grow and change...I just don't think this new sound is working for them. Skewed heavily toward the new material, every song in the set blurred together into one long noise with even brief glimpses of older material like Pressure Suit losing almost all personality and drowning in the mix. Every song had me debating leaving early in disappointment although I ultimately stayed for the whole set. I kept hoping they'd throw us a bone, lose the guitar-heavy new style for a few songs, and give us some of the older blippy electronic sound I loved last time...but it just never materialized.

Unexpectedly, the night was redeemed by the opening acts. Cleveland locals 20goto10 and Berlin native Masha Qrella were top notch and both acts have been added to my CD collection as a result. Detroit's Genders were interesting but provided something more like gimmicky performance art than a musical performance. It was kind of fun but I suspect it doesn't translate well to CD. Tamion 12 Inch's set at the previous Adult. Grog Shop appearance was much the same; weird fun, but their CD was basically terrible.

Adult. - Gimme Trouble

Gimme Trouble, the new full-length from the Detroit's Adult. finds the band going in a direction I'm not sure I appreciate; a lot more shrill yelling and a lot less funky robot electro. It seems new member Samuel Consiglio isn't the only thing they've borrowed from fellow Detroiters Tamion 12 Inch. Nicola Kuperus' vocals have unhinged almost completely and are now remarkably like Tamion vocalist Kerry Biernott's. Although I liked the style when I saw Tamion 12 Inch perform live, it's something that's hard to capture in a studio recording. It has it's moments on Gimme Trouble but it grates just as often.

Adult.'s spectacular previous efforts Resuscitation and Anxiety Always remain CDs I'd want with me if stranded on a desert island but Gimme Trouble has yet to weasel its way into my brain. However, I'm hopeful their live performance once again knocks my socks off when they return to Cleveland's Grog Shop on Saturday 12/3/05.

Grade: B-