This Adultery Is Ripe

by Charles SpanoThe first full-length blueprint for the Blood Brothers' sound, This Adultery Is Ripe neither captures the schizoid sci-fi hardcore of March on Electric Children nor the groove-oriented screamo of their masterpiece, Burn Piano Island, Burn, but still takes the intensity of At the Drive-In to another level and manages to outdo just about any other entry in the genre. "Rescue" brilliantly combines spiky intensity with serious hooks and in the process completely recontextualizes what can be considered pop. The darkness, strange undercurrents, and the revolutionary, indelible outlook are present and in full effect -- check the eerie intro to "Doctor! Doctor!," the short-fast-rules grindcore of "James Brown," and the dual vocals of "Marooned on Piano Island." The strength here comes from the fact that the Blood Brothers can match the relentless thrash of the most insane bands (the Locust, for example), while driving their songs with melody, ingenuity, and hooks. This album offers up a disorienting, sometimes disturbing vision, but one that obliterates its contemporaries and lays waste to its forebears.