CocknBullKid - Adulthood

CocknBullKid (real name Anita Blay) has dropped “the” from her name and arrived with a full length album, which pushes a brand new style and sound, somewhat alien to her early gigs. It opens with the twinkling sounds of the first track ‘Adulthood’, incidentally also the name of the album. It describes her delusion with adulthood bemoaning, “Is this adulthood? Tell me when it starts, when it gets good.”

The album has a retro girl band sound, with polished strings and assured girly vocals. The scornful lyrics contrast with the polished sound, and if you don’t listen to the lyrics you’re in danger of finding CocknBullKid incredibly one dimensional. It’s not a terrible thing to be one dimensional when the backing music is so pretty, but it’s unlikely a tag she’d be happy to carry.

Despite the lyrics holding an element of cynical, sarcastic enjoyment for a while, it’s soon replaced with the feeling that you’ve heard it over and over again. The vocals become monotonous, as though at times Blay doesn’t really mean what she’s singing. Even if she does mean it, she’s not doing a great deal to convince.

The album is never going to hit you with the feeling that you’ve listened to a classic, but it’s well written pop. ‘Yellow’ sounds as though it’s come straight from a forgotten Spice Girls album; many songs here Sugababes would sell their souls for. The beginning of ‘Mexico’ shows an edgier side, and is how the rest of the album should have sounded; less polished with a far more interesting backdrop. It still contains the familiar girl band elements in the middle, but soon reverts to the slightly gritty start.

‘Adulthood’ leaves the impression that you’re not really listening to the real Anita Blay. You’re listening to the work of polished production that swallows her sugary sweet girl band vocals, and distracts you from the clever, sneering lyrics. It’s a shame because Blay clearly had the potential to swim ahead of the overrated critical pool of acts, but this album looks set to drown that potential.