Coming into their show at the Paradise last Thursday night, the Detroit electroclash duo Adult. had a lot to prove. Their burden was twofold: Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus had to show the crowd that their disappointing new full-length, Anxiety Always, was still worthy of attention, and they also had to justify coming out to see live electronic music at all let’s face it, watching musicians fiddle with PowerBooks instead of guitars is never too enthralling.
But despite the odds against them, Adult. managed to pull it all off. Anxiety Always, panned in the Muse on April 10th, was a misfire that combined sound-effect noodling and sparse, vaguely gloomy beats with Kuperas’s disaffected, shrill howl. In concert, though, the songs took on a more carefree dance feel the computers, keyboards and live bass created a thick sound that boomed through the club and made every skinny hipster get down and dirty.
Miller, dressed in black with a skull belt buckle, mainly remained positioned behind the desk of electronics or stage right with his bass. Kuperus, dressed in virginal white that nearly matched her hair color, sported an eagle belt buckle and a microphone, pacing from one side of the stage to the other and firing off chants like she was preaching fire and brimstone.
Adult. mostly stuck to newer fare, but they did manage to sneak in ‘Dispassionate Furniture’ and ‘Nausea,’ a couple of oldies off their debut, Resuscitation.
When the group performed songs from Anxiety Always, it showed just how much better they are as a live outfit than as a recorded one. Tracks like ‘Shake Your Head,’ ‘Glue Your Eyelids Together’ and ‘Blank Eyed, Nose Bleed,’ are almost laughable when heard on CD, with lyrics like, ‘The decline of guessing games/ It’s such a shame/ If you don’t know/ Ask your mother,’ and the repetitive chants of the songs’ titles.
Live, however, it’s no laughing matter. You can’t help but sing along with Kuperus, whose voice acts like a sonic trailblazer, carving through the cluttered assault of electro-beats being hurled by Miller.
During the group’s final song, show-opener Magas came on stage to provide backup dancing, and he ended up inviting members of the crowd on stage. A concerned Miller and Kuperus kept warning the ecstatic go-go’ers not to dance on the plethora of cables that ran along the stage floor.
The message was clear: Adult. will bring the party … just don’t mess with their wiring, please!
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