Biography
Adulkt Life emerged in London as a punk outfit drawing on deep prior experience. Chris Rowley, who had sung in Huggy Bear throughout the 1990s, joined forces with guitarist John Arthur Webb, previously active in the energetic Male Bonding during the 2010s. Their songs deliver a sharply contemporary version of agit-pop and punk. Two digital fanzines accompanied the debut album Book of Curses, which appeared in late 2020. Following a 2022 split single shared with METZ, the second album There Is No Desire arrived in 2023.
Rowley and Webb first crossed paths in the early 2000s when the former Huggy Bear vocalist began visiting Webb at the Covent Garden location of the Rough Trade record shop. Only later did Webb connect the dots about Rowley’s history in the foundational riot grrrl group, and still later did he invite Rowley to form a band. Having stepped away from music after Huggy Bear, Rowley agreed to try again. Those first rehearsals sparked immediate momentum, giving rise to the project. Drummer Sonny Barrett, born several years after Huggy Bear disbanded in 1994, came aboard for their initial performance. Bassist Kevin Hendrick, an ex-Male Bonding member now recording as Middex, soon completed the lineup. The resulting sound fused the rapid-fire punk of Huggy Bear, the sharp attack of Male Bonding, and the anxieties of contemporary existence. The trio quickly captured their material on tape, securing a deal with the American imprint What’s Yr Rupture? to issue Book of Curses. Webb handled mixing while Mikey Young mastered the November 2020 release. Adulkt Life contributed two fresh tracks to the 2022 split single with METZ, one of them titled “Book of Curses” yet absent from the album of that name. The following year brought the follow-up There Is No Desire, tracked in seven hours and licensed to Jabs in the United States and Voltage in Germany.
Rowley and Webb first crossed paths in the early 2000s when the former Huggy Bear vocalist began visiting Webb at the Covent Garden location of the Rough Trade record shop. Only later did Webb connect the dots about Rowley’s history in the foundational riot grrrl group, and still later did he invite Rowley to form a band. Having stepped away from music after Huggy Bear, Rowley agreed to try again. Those first rehearsals sparked immediate momentum, giving rise to the project. Drummer Sonny Barrett, born several years after Huggy Bear disbanded in 1994, came aboard for their initial performance. Bassist Kevin Hendrick, an ex-Male Bonding member now recording as Middex, soon completed the lineup. The resulting sound fused the rapid-fire punk of Huggy Bear, the sharp attack of Male Bonding, and the anxieties of contemporary existence. The trio quickly captured their material on tape, securing a deal with the American imprint What’s Yr Rupture? to issue Book of Curses. Webb handled mixing while Mikey Young mastered the November 2020 release. Adulkt Life contributed two fresh tracks to the 2022 split single with METZ, one of them titled “Book of Curses” yet absent from the album of that name. The following year brought the follow-up There Is No Desire, tracked in seven hours and licensed to Jabs in the United States and Voltage in Germany.
Albums
Singles
