PUBERTY

Puberty is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads. Puberty (the?band, the lifestyle, the etc.), though, belongs entirely to Susanna Welbourne and?Lars Finberg. The band was hatched during a pocket of uncertainty, a time when?signals seemed to point toward the half-promised oblivion of this duo's day-job in The?Intelligence. During these uncertain 2010 evenings, the tag team launched?Trainwreck, a monthly musical happening held at Seattle's deepest, dankest karaoke?dive, the Orient Express. Dance, dress-up (drag'), and debauchery were of principal?concern, with a soundtrack tailored to exalt such values. The Intelligence's assumed?influences were swiftly replaced in Puberty by (as confirmed by Finberg) Trainwreck?playlist regulars like U-Roy, Tones On Tail, Fun Boy Three, prime sleaze Roxy?Music, and other grandiose splatterings. This was to be the inverse of what the duo?had been doing musically in terms of mood and motivation. The Intelligence's airtight?guitar jerking delivered with (ahem) casual professionalism was to be largely displaced?by big-band arrangements with wildly unexpected turns, delivered via eccentric?theatrics and playing upon classically sexual, sultry, and moody rock 'n' roll with odd?atmospherics. Plus pink outfits. Puberty is the process of physical changes through?which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. A?2011 single appeared quickly via Canadian label Telephone Explosion, though?Puberty's message was only briefly paraded before The Intelligence's domination?program resumed. More weird hairs started to grow by mid-2015, though, as Finberg?and Welbourne resurrected Puberty for a truly wholly album, assembling a wide array?of co-conspirators both new and familiar. Perhaps most surprising is that neither plays a?single note on the resultant recordings, offering only their vocals (which interplay?wonderfully) and songwriting, allowing the band to, as Finberg puts it, sound like?itself. That self ends up being a mad provocateur. The album begins with beautiful?orchestral fluttering (Uptown) and concludes with very loud resolve (Downtown),?tones that bookend a collection of superbly spacious songs that blast through?expectation. Parties is both awkward and the gospel truth, built upon a simple riff that?only occasionally visits the circus. Nature Calls boasts a blast of guitar that's so?ridiculously jarring that an advisory should be present. That solo on Skeletons'!'!'?Hear it, then die knowing you lived a life of true value. Moonlight is slinkingly?cinematic and impossible to shake. And more, even. Always more.?TRACKLISTING?01. Uptown (1:45)?02. Invitations (4:22)?03. Coke Machines (2:47)?04. Parties (2:58)?05. Hate (3:02)?06. Haunt my trash (3:36)?07. Teenage Death (2:33)?08. Moonlight (3:52)?09. Skeletons (2:41)?10. Nature calls (4:47)?11. Downtown (4:22)