AADF - Process

I'm starting to notice this more and more with Futurepop. There's 2 kinds of acts - there's either acts that everyone has heard of, like Glis, Colony 5, VnV, then there's acts that just simply haven't broken through.

Rather perplexingly, German duo "AADF" fall into the latter. I can't really accuse them, or blame them for this, however. Chris (Vocals, Keyboards) and Ricardo (Keys, Guitars, Engineering) only founded this project in 2008, and released their first demo "One Step Closer" in 2010. Despite the band disliking this album (it has since been pulled from sale), One of the songs "Demongirl" was put on a compilation CD.

"Process", is the first official album, and despite the almost non-existant amount of promotion (as it stands, this album is only available to buy from one store), the guys really should be breaking through and making a name for themselves.

Let's be clear here. I am not at any point saying these guys are on the same level as the above bands - it would be naive, and perhaps almost... retarded (excuse the term) to do so. However, for a fledgling project on its first release, the potential is there - I can hear areas where AADF remind me of early Cue to Recall, Sero.Overdose, Code 64.

One thing I do hope is that the bands more unusual and quirky moments, such as "Don't Touch" from the demo, are reduced - although the song is funny, and unique, there's moments where it feels like the band are almost taking the piss a bit - and that could put people off.

A glance at the tracklisting tells me that the tongue in cheek humour IS still there - the Intro track for example, is called "....!" - in addition, we have the hilariously titled "Boy Eats Girl" - which actually made me spit out my Diet Pepsi, and the more concerning "Chainsaw 2 the Dick" - WHY THE SHIT WOULD YOU CALL A SONG THIS????.
That's AADF in a nutshell, unusual guys with a sense of humour, and the first band to scare the shit out of me and crack me up within the space of a minute.

"...!" isnt even a track, it's just some voice announcing the album really. I don't like those, and it does nothing for me.
Title track "Process" (obviously) is exactly what I wanted to hear. In the vein of System Syn's later stuff, this is dominated by danceable Synth, and like a lot of the peers from Germany (Wolfsheim, I'm looking at you), the vocals are sung in a noticeable German accent.

The catchier and more Trance-like "We are one" could almost have been a b-side from the Futureperfect era of VnV Nation.

Ultimately, from Arpeggiator to Synth, AADF are an evolved band who know exactly what they want to achieve.
There ARE still silly moments on here, but I think it gives them an identity.

Improvement is needed, but how many bands put out a perfect first release?
This is more than worth your money, and I guarantee at least one track will make you smile.

Currently, the album is only available from the ever-reliable and swift people at Poponaut.de. Incredibly cheap too. May 10 2011