Emerging from the California North Bay punk scene, Creative Adult introduced themselves with several short-format releases that showed a distinct goth touch in their music, drawing comparisons to Bauhaus and Joy Division. The EP appeared to be their best mode of communication, considering how extreme the sound is. But Psychic Mess, their debut album, mixes up their various impulses; it certainly isn’t all goth. Punk elements poke through the melody and the eventual violence of “Everyone Knows Everyone,” while art-damage-period Sonic Youth can be heard in the jarring clang of “Flash.” Guttural synth-punk pushes through “Exposed,” while the singing is much more like the political hardcore of MDC in its ranting anger. Songs, in fact, often change course, with a tune starting as a melodic charmer (“Charismatic Leader”) and turning into a long blast of humming feedback. The pleasing guitar cadence of “Haunt” leads into a pounding rant that’s much like an American punk’s answer to the U.K.’s Mark E. Smith, until the singer decides the song is again worth singing. Intriguing stuff.