ADULTS - "Vol. II" - Tape - 2011

   Last year, my friend Robert asked me if I could help him do demo reviews at MRR because the amount of demos that roll through their P.O. box every month is staggering. He was writing 20+ reviews for the magazine every month and still had piles and piles left over. I agreed and decided that I would almost exclusively review terrible looking CD-R demos; the horror-punk, the bar rock, the folk punk and the bedroom projects of young teenage couples who did bad renditions of radio hits. Some of these bands send multi-page promotional hype for their band and I'm treated to some of the most hilarious (or banal) bullshit I've ever read. My recycling bin is stuffed to the gills with this garbage. It's not all bad though. Sometimes, I come across insanely inspired punk, brutal hardcore or weird, nutso experimentation. It makes this thankless job totally worth it every time.
   Most of the time, I pass over the tapes in the demo box until all of the CD-R's are gone, but this tape by ADULTS was lingering around in the bottom and something in my brain said that I should take it. There was no note, no fucking promo sheets....just this tape and a mailing address. When I put it on, I was instantly hooked. They play straightforward punk with hooks to spare, like if the DICKIES lost their keyboard player and never even thought about playing slow songs. What if THE HEARTBREAKERS just shot speed exclusively and lived in a punk house in Oakland? They might sound like ADULTS. This is the funny thing about living in the Bay Area. This band lives a short 10-12 miles from my house, yet I had never seen them or heard of them even though I go to punk shows all the time. It's too hard to see every good band in this area. It's impossible, actually. I still haven't seen this band, but I plan on doing so in the near future. Until then, I will be blasting this tape in my room. You should too.

  Download ADULTS
Re-uploaded 2014