The Adult Net was a British indie pop band formed by the American singer and guitarist Brix Smith and the British musician Simon Rogers in 1985. Formed while they were still members of the British post-punk band The Fall, The Adult Net released seven singles and one album, of which four of the singles reached the UK Singles Chart. The band had various line-ups and, at various times, included former Smiths members Craig Gannon, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce; as well as former Blondie member Clem Burke and The The member James Eller. After the band's 1989 debut album, The Honey Tangle, failed to chart their label Fontana Records released them in 1990.

History

Formation

American singer and guitarist Brix Smith joined the British post-punk band The Fall in 1983 and later married the band's founder, Mark E. Smith. While remaining with The Fall, Smith formed The Adult Net along with fellow Fall member Simon Rogers in 1985 when they released a cover version of the American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock's 1967 hit single, "Incense and Peppermints", on Beggars Banquet. "Edie" – a tribute to Edie Sedgwick, the American actress and one of Andy Warhol's superstars – was also released in 1985. Two singles were released in 1986, "White Nights (Stars Say Go)" and "Waking Up in the Sun". "Waking Up in the Sun" was the first single by the band to chart when it reached number 95 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1986. An album was recorded for Beggars Banquet in 1987 called Spin This Web but remains unreleased.

Fontana Records

In an attempt to sign with Geffen Records, Smith and Rogers recruited ex-Smiths members, Craig Gannon (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). However, the band were signed by Phonogram Records subsidiary Fontana Records and with a new line-up – The The bassist James Eller replacing Rourke and ex-Blondie drummer Clem Burke replacing Joyce – recorded the 1989 album The Honey Tangle. The album was recorded at The Church studios in London and produced by Craig Leon. Three singles were released from the album: "Take Me", which reached number 78; "Where Were You" (a cover version of the American rock band The Grass Roots' 1966 single "Where Were You When I Needed You"), which reached number 66; and a re-recorded version of "Waking Up in the Sun", which reached number 99. Shortly after the release of the album, Smith left The Fall, having ended her marriage with Mark E. in early 1983. The album failed to chart and the band were released by Fontana in October 1990.

Musical style

In his 1987 interview with Brix Smith, Richard Cook for Sounds, described The Adult Net's debut single as psychedelic revival and noted that the Smith "seems captivated by the innocent spirit of an older sort of pop". The American music journalist Ira Robbins described the band's music as "a flower-powery side project to the Fall". He noted that some songs took "a pointless country turn" but that The Honey Tangle was a "catchy power-folk-pop collection that sounds like a flashback to 1981 Los Angeles". While reviewing The Honey Tangle for Allmusic, Stewart Mason said that the band's early singles were "spiky marriages between guitars and electronics that owed much to the raincoat-clad heyday of Factory Records". Stewart went on to describe The Honey Tangle as "glossy, jangly, sweet-natured pop music that would sound perfectly at home in the Top 40 radio play lists of some alternate universe".