Huggy Bear were one of the key pillars in the UK’s extension of the 90s riot grrrl movement, and while some members went on to other projects after the band’s split in the mid-90s, Chris Rowley hadn’t done much. That was until he randomly met John Arthur Webb of the band Male Bonding in Rough Trade, who asked him to make some music together. After some years of casual fun, they recruited a young drummer called Sonny Barrett and Webb’s best friend and Male Bonding bandmate Kevin Hendrick on bass, and Adulkt Life was completed.
The quartet are now signed to What’s Your Rupture?, who are putting out the debut single “Country Pride” and hopefully more to come in the near future. On the single, they say:
“Early in Adulkt Life songwriting we wanted to make a song like Devo – something herky jerky with a future disco swing for a party crowd – but we were all too angry. The song is about the need to escape from hostile small town awfulness and the weird ways you choose to get out. It’s a dark ride with sparky edges through small town/new town bid for blood… Adulkt life haven’t learnt to be flippant yet just flipped out ….Ricochet and rockblast vs racism.”
“Country Pride” is as propulsive and searing as you’d hope from this combination of people, as it melds cavorting guitar riffs with infinite sax wailing to provide the perfect backing for a pointed missive. Rowley’s voice is scathing and provocative, swinging between sneering and irascible in unison with the surging tides of noise being brought on by the rest of Adulkt Life. He may have been out of the game for over two decades, but Chris Rowley’s picked the perfect time and way to make a return.
You can listen to “Country Pride” below, but if you buy it from Bandcamp you’ll receive a fanzine from the band – the first of a trilogy through which they hope to “try and recapture the feelings not just in rediscovering music but all the other crucial elements that go alongside it, the passion to share and scrutinise and play poetically with brut force and argue.”
There’s hopefully more to come soon from Adulkt Life, so make sure to keep an eye on their Bandcamp and Instagram.
