!!!

!!! (generally pronounced ) is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. The band, who are commonly associated with the dance-punk movement, are currently based in New York City, Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon.

Background and history


After a tour together, members of Sacramento bands Black Liquorice and Popesmashers formed !!!. The band's name was inspired by the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the clicking sounds of the Bushmens' Khoisan language were represented as "!". However, as the bandmembers themselves say, !!! is pronounced by repeating thrice any monosyllabic sound. Chk Chk Chk is the most common pronunciation, but they could just as easily be called Pow Pow Pow, Bam Bam Bam, Uh Uh Uh, etc. The URL of their official website and the title of their MySpace page, however, suggests that "Chk Chk Chk" is the preferred pronunciation.

The band's debut full-length record came out in 2000 as a self-titled album on the label Gold Standard Laboratories. This was followed in 2003 by the single "Me and Giuliani Down By the School Yard", a lengthy track combining house beats with sinewy basslines, psychedelic guitars, and simple lyrics which quote the title song of the musical Footloose.

A second full-length, Louden Up Now, was released on Touch and Go in America and on Warp Records in Europe in June 2004. In June 2005, !!! released a new EP covering "Take Ecstasy With Me" by The Magnetic Fields, and "Get Up" by Nate Dogg. The following December, the original drummer for the band, Mikel Gius, was struck and killed by a car while riding his bike. !!! released their third album, Myth Takes in 2007.

!!! is composed of Mario Andreoni (guitar), Dan Gorman (horns/percussion/keys), Nic Offer (vocals), Tyler Pope (bass/various electronic devices), and Allan Wilson (horns/percussion/keys). Touring members include Shannon Funchess (vocals), Sean McGahan (various electronic devices/sound manipulation) and Paul Quattrone (drums). The band also shared membership with the similar, defunct group Out Hud (including Tyler Pope, who has played with LCD Soundsystem and written music for Cake).

Vocalist and drummer John Pugh officially left the band in July 2007 to concentrate on his new band Free Blood. Shannon Funchess stood in for Pugh during much of their 2007 tour.

EPs

 * GSL26/LAB SERIES VOL. 2 – (Split with Out Hud, 1999, Gold Standard Labs)
 * Live Live Live – (November 2004, Beat Records, Japan only)
 * Take Ecstasy with Me/Get Up – (June 7, 2005, Touch and Go Records)
 * Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass E.P. – (November 2010)

Other projects

 * !!! (1997, tour cassette)

Video

 * PUNKCAST#423 live @ NYU, NYC – Mar 25, 2004. (RealPlayer)

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