Hipsters have been getting a rough time lately. Skin tight jeans and 70's porn 'staches aside, there is one criticism that is dead wrong. The indie rocker is funky. Where hip hop is dangerously careening closer to pop music, indie rock has been digging deep in its vinyl carrying milk crates, excavating the nuggets of the past and lighting torches to lead us away from the dull, stagnant and the flat footed.Today's music excavators are the New York collective !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) who bring the live funk, punk, disco and dub like no one since these sounds congealed in the early 1980's. Releasing three albums and, like all dance outfits should, extended vinyl singles through the 2000's, !!! have honed a serious dance sound that rubs off gritty rather than slick or overproduced. Whereas most live performances of dance music can be limp and aloof, this band gets down on the audience's level and doesn't stop moving until the last encore.
!!!'s new album on Warp, Strange Weather, Isn't It?, is their first sign of a new recording in three years and the first single, AM/FM, is a welcome homecoming. The joy is evident and palpable, like the recording was a jailhouse release. All of the elements are back in play: disco congos, jittery post-punk guitar stabs and bouncing bass all hit you the hips while the comely voices of male lead and female backing vocals lure you in like sirens to the rocks. Download and get to stepping. The rest will be awaiting you August 24.
Preorder the album here.
Hey I really like your blog - just wanted to mention that if you would place pre-order links for other stores, like amazon for example, I'd be happy to click through so you can get the referral fee :)
ReplyDeleteNice track but a bit too chill for my taste. I really like !!! when they turn it up to eleven rather than the slow burn.
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