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Pure Adult are a Brooklyn-based experimental rock duo formed by Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca. At the centre of their music is the far left political ethos and DIY attitude the pair share. Their new single, ‘Hot Crusade’, is a furiously cynical dismissal of a hope for change. The song is a nod towards the 80s-era evangelical revisionist concept of a “crusade” as well as an indictment of the political centre in how it constantly stalls, choosing momentary safety for themselves at the expense of the poor, both present and future.
Having grown up in the unusually sheltered environment of a church-turned-cult, Snyder has always found himself drawn to the harsh, dissonant music that was off limits during his formative years. In 2017, he and contemporary dancer and visual artist Bianca Abarca formed Pure Adult, who released their debut EP, Pure Adult I, in 2019. Now they are set to release their debut album, Pure Adult II, on January 27th via FatCat Records.
“My parents and the church were very aggressive about expelling any non-christian music, films, and friends from one’s life,” says Jeremy, on his evangelical upbringing. In spite of this, in the mid-90s, Jeremy taught himself to play multiple instruments as well as learning how to make multitrack recordings using a karaoke machine. By high school, Jeremy was secretly listening to non-christian bands like Swans and Sonic Youth whilst recording his own songs and trying to recruit people to play live with him. “I was truly a believer back then and when the leadership told me I wasn’t supposed to play music, this caused a massive internal conflict. I was truly, fully idolising music as they had feared, but I couldn’t help it. So I just felt shame,” he explains.
After leaving the church in 2007, Jeremy began studying religion, philosophy and politics whilst working as a sound engineer. “I ended up touring with some small pop rock bands, while my studies brought me through an array of beliefs and a far left political worldview. While I’ve identified as a communist for almost 20 years now, I didn’t fully give up on religious belief until around 2010. A fundamental element to our belief system was this sort of unverifiable feeling that must be something and, because I’ve experienced that feeling, virtually nothing can make me deny it. And it’s comforting, in a world of quantifiable uncertainty, a guise of certainty,” he says
In more recent years, Jeremy has become the engineer of choice to internationally acclaimed acts such as Mdou Moctar and IDLES, both of which are big fans of Pure Adult. IDLES lead singer Joe Talbot says of the bands forthcoming album:
“Pungent chaos that serves no pomp, instead it throws around dark innuendo like a rag doll to the cadence of fury and fucking. The best album I’ve heard in ages. The best band you haven’t seen. Go dig, it’s beautiful at its worst.”
Foregoing the clean polish of professional studios for various bedrooms, basements and empty restaurants along America’s East Coast, Pure Adult’s dedication to creating challenging yet captivating rock songs has earned them an ever expanding following, playing shows across the US as well as touring the UK with Leeds-based punk band Thank. As well as the release of their debut album at the start of 2023, Pure Adult are also preparing to release a collaborative EP with Gustaf, Thank and Heavy Lungs in the Spring.
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