With
This Behavior,
Adult.'s
Nicola Kuperus and
Adam Lee Miller celebrate their 20th anniversary and their
Dais Records debut in the most appropriate way -- with a return to the most immediate, kinetic side of their music. Though it arrives just over a year after
Detroit House Guests,
This Behavior couldn't be more different than that album's cerebral collaborations. As intriguing as those experiments were, this time
Miller and
Kuperus play to some of their greatest strengths, and do so extremely well: When
Kuperus growls "THIS behavior" on the title track or takes the legacy of
Siouxsie Sioux to its logical, sneering end on the gleaming post-punk anthem "Does the Body Know?," it's instant gratification for anyone missing the duo's haughty grooves. To make the album,
Adult. sequestered themselves and a stripped-down version of their live setup in a cabin in the Northern Michigan woods in the dead of winter. Fittingly,
This Behavior's songs suggest their frostbitten surroundings as well as a searing case of cabin fever. At once stark and suffocating, the album boasts some of the most unhinged sounds and textures
Kuperus and
Miller have ever gotten out of their gear, whether it's the klaxon-like tones that punctuate "Violent Shakes" or the writhing arpeggios and whip-cracking beats of "Irregular Pleasure," an irresistible track that harks back to the extended workouts of
Adult.'s early days.
This Behavior's themes are just as archetypal as its music: "On the Edge (You Put Meâ?¦)" captures the disconnection, disorientation, and alienation that define the duo's work so well that it's almost comforting instead of unsettling. Beyond its saucy title, "Lick Out the Content" updates
Adult.'s misanthropic viewpoint to reflect social media overload and sums it up with typically terse disgust: "Your face/I've seen it before/Take it away/I've had enough." The album's moods and sounds flow so seamlessly that it feels like it could be a mix or a DJ set, even when the bottom falls out and provides a glimpse into the void on the finale "In All the Debris." A relentless return to form,
This Behavior finds
Adult. at their most forceful and consistent as they enter their third decade. ~ Heather Phares
