ADULT.

Name: ADULT.
Start: 2026-05-05T19:00:00-07:00
Location: Barboza

Schedule

Tue, 05 May, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Barboza | Seattle, WA

Barboza Presents
ADULT.
TUE, 5 MAY 2026 at 07:00PM PDT
Ages: 21 & Over
Doors Open: 07:00PM
OnSale: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 at 10:00AM PST
Announcement: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 at 07:00AM PST

ADULT. is not cooperating. For over 25 years, the dystopian Detroit synth-punk institution founded by
Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller has embodied steadfast frustration, distrust, and apprehension. One
might expect the edges to soften with time, but ADULT. is not interested in the comforts of legacy. The
duo’s music has never sounded as visceral, urgent, and downright angry as it does on the culminating,
uncompromising Kissing Luck Goodbye, their scorched-earth 10th LP and fourth with Dias Records. Built
with upgraded gear and a whole new library of sounds, the material is crushingly dynamic, louder yet
clearer, with Kuperus’ commanding delivery given greater prominence in the mix, outlining an arsenal of
vivid, caustic calls, chants, and musings. Laughter, whether in the lyrics or as a possessed presence,
serves as a leitmotif that speaks to the menacing absurdity of modern times. “THE CHAOS IS WHAT
THEY WANT,” she sings on “R U 4 $ale”, doubling as a declaration of intent: to meet a burning world of
greed and disarray with defiant, masterfully assembled chaos. “You have two choices in this hellscape
we're living in right now, which is either fight or be depressed,” says Miller. “Either one is okay. But, you
know, the choice was simple.” ADULT. is known for high-
stakes catharsis on stage, and recently deployed their back catalog of bass
guitar songs from the 2000s, retracing the prescient Anxiety Always era partially out of necessity given
the temperature of today’s political and technological dread. The response was instant and palpable: “We
were in Paris, and the kids were stage diving. And I was like, this is rad. This is kind of the energy I want
to get back into,” Kuperus says. The epiphany coincided with a series of setbacks —
Kuperus’ bouts with chronic vertigo, the loss of their close friend and collaborator Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb, whom the
album is dedicated to—all made profoundly worse under the looming regime. “We were stuck in the mud
for quite a while after the election,” Miller says.“We had all the concepts, but we would just be like,
‘What's the point?’” With failing studio air conditioners and dead car batteries (their sacred space for
listening back to recordings), they often joked that the album might be cursed. Kuperus adds, “We're just
like everything's breaking. We're breaking. We're broken.” The sentiment didn’t stick, however, as they
found themselves ultimately too super-charged by fury to sit still. From watching Musk’s disgusting nazi
salute to seeing their community struggle under the new regime to waiting months for a tariff-inflated
replacement subwoofer, the vibe heading into Kissing Luck Goodbye was four middle fingers pointed
straight up. Rather than retreat, they focused on the process, revisiting their setup, complete with their first new mics
in 20 years. They obsessed over textures, amassing a massive sample library taken from old thrift-store
albums, previously used and unused ADULT. ingredients and new field recordings, running myriad items,
including the buzz of shop vacs, through various pedals. Pause Kissing Luck Goodbye at any moment,
and you’re likely to count a dozen things happening at once in strange, dizzying, and dissonant harmony.
Together with producer Nolan Gray, whose involvement resulted from a chance encounter (he happened
to be the host of the short-term rental property where the two stayed—maybe there is still some luck,
after all), the band pushed themselves harder than ever before to build a world with this record.
Songs took shape from unusual places: “No One Is Coming” got its tempo from a skipping record they
captured through a cell phone during a bnb stay for Kuperus’ 50th birthday. A bassline-driven industrial
anthem that turns feedback into melody, the track attacks inaction in the face of fascism—“NO ONE IS
COMING TO YOUR RESCUE” is as simple as that: the resistance will not be provided by someone else.
“None of It's Fun” blitzes with breathless urgency, high-speed glissades, and pointed lines like “OH I AM
TEARING MY GUTS OUT / LOOK AT ME...DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS AMUSING?”
The closer, “Destroyers”, was the last song they recorded and encompasses the techniques ADULT. has
learned not just throughout the making of Kissing Luck Goodbye, but across their quarter-century as a
pioneering collaborative project. A straightforward bassline and kick collide with pulsing mantras, then
becomes completely saturated and cacophonous. Their younger selves might have let the song destroy
itself, but here, they were able to steady the volume throughout the extremes, making way for a poignant,
parting a cappella:
WE PAY THE PRICE FOR
THOSE IN POWER
EXPLOITING YOU
EXPLOITING ME
CONSUMING YOU
CONSUMING ME
SICK SICK SICK
SICKENING
IT IS US
THAT ARE DEVOURED
BY EVERYTHING
I WILL EAT YOUR HATE
Accessibility Disclaimer: Barboza is not wheelchair accessible.

Important Information:
* This event is 21 & over. Valid ID is required. Minors will not be permitted entry.
* Doors open at the listed event time.
* Event start time is generally one hour after doors open but is subject to change without notice.
* All tickets are nonrefundable with the exception of event cancellation.
* Support acts are subject to change.
* Orders in violation of the published ticket limit are subject to cancellation without notice.