How I Like !!!: The Playlists
I couldn’t have listened to !!! on election night. That night was about processing the information (likely a full-body experience even if you don’t have an anxiety disorder). Zen favorites like Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way and early John Fahey soundtracked the initial shock and later attempts at radical acceptance, spent playing games and avoiding the refresh button as much as possible. In between, I listened to Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace for the first time. As an agnostic, I’m rarely in a headspace for gospel. But occasionally it does me good to hear people celebrate faith in something bigger, more beautiful than themselves. It sure did last Tuesday.
Usually, I prefer Andy Kaufman's version. But I'm just as grateful for this one.
Dealing with Election Day 2016 was one of several experiences that left me more mentally prepared for Election Day 2024. It's been a long time since I've believed voting was a search for a heroic leader, instead of deciding which bureaucrat we'd have to hector constantly on policy to even hope to be heard over industry lobbies. As such, I voted this month for an administration compromised by the cruelty of a white supremacist capitalist patriachy, hoping to avoid an administration vocally horny for it. About ten million people who made the same choice as me in 2020 failed to vote at all this year. This allowed a death cult of oligarchs and religious zealots, all catering to the whims of a delusional, narcissist TV star who fell ass-backward into being their fascist golem, to win despite a total number of votes no more impressive than what they achieved when losing. This was depressing evidence of how woefully our society and its legal/political infrastructure is prepared to survive the current moment, let alone evolve into something greater. Still, I knew intellectually that the existential problems we face remain the same as the day before, no less worth facing despite the potential futility of progress, and the inherent futility of mortality. I just had to wait for my body to catch up to my mind’s awareness.
I didn’t puke or bawl that night - a big step up from eight years ago - and after some enriching conversations the following day, abject terror and crippling fear only lurked faintly in the background. Being in Dad Mode helped a lot. My kid’s response to “adults might be a little rattled and sad today because someone very mean and unhelpful won the election” was “this cereal is great.” And he wasn’t wrong! If he had been at his mom's when I saw !!!’s instagram post about their show that night at the Regent, I probably would have gone. And once the little guy went to bed, I listened to the band's joyous, defiant 21st century punk-funk for the rest of the night.
I was skeptical when I first learned about this NY-via-Sacramento band with its cutesy name (usually pronounced “chk chk chk,” derived from the subtitles of The Gods Must Be Crazy) and cutesy titles (“Me & Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard”) in the early-mid ‘00s, back when their metropolitan scene was so hot, and it took me up to three Greyhound buses to get there. In fact, I didn’t bother hearing much before tagging along with a friend to their show at Philly’s TLA in 2007. I don’t know what I’d expected, but a full band laying down dance floor grooves behind a floppy-haired smirker thrusting his crotch around in a t-shirt and short shorts wasn’t it. Their concurrent album Myth Takes revealed a post-hardcore/post-techno spin on ‘80s NYC art-funk, where the goal was to stun and amaze instead of merely insinuate, singer Nic Offer a chatty, profane shit-talker more David Lee Roth in spirit than David Byrne. “We will, we will Remain In Light you!”
Since 2007, I’ve gradually collected most of their discography before and after. Turns out !!! had their shit figured out before the band had even left Sacramento for The Big Apple. Seven thumping tracks of infectiously snide fire, each north of five minutes, I'd rank their 2001 self-titled debut up with the similarly self-possessed, self-titled debuts of Van Halen or The Cars. Higher, really. I’m amazed by the irony that, though they’ve never topped that initial classic, they’ve also never tapped the well dry. Every three or so years, for over twenty, !!! drops yet another frothy stew of ecstatic dance music, Offer always overcoming opposition and ennui with a skip in his step and two fingers raised.
Do they know the album this is from has been out of print for ages? Please to fix?
Guitarist Mario Andreoni and keyboardist Dan Gorman are the only constants in the band aside from Offer, other musicians and back-up singers filtering in and out without dramatically changing the sound. Barely even a dilettante when it comes to techno or even techno-pop at this point (unless you've made goofy videos for twenty years), I’m in no place to judge how their sound compares to the dance tent competition. But, holy moly, if there’s a more obscure or poppin’ fresh act who puts lyrics like this (from 2001's vicious "KooKooKa Fuk-U") into a forceful dance-funk context, please share! I’ll be grateful to hear it!
People don't always get quite what they deserve
But sometimes I swear you can see it coming
Karma comes around in some ways it's almost funny
When you going to learn what we already told you?
We're all getting older but some of us get wiser
So don't be surprised when you get what we expect
We told you so
If you're looking for a friend you should try being one first
If you're looking for a friend you can kiss my ass!
If you're looking for a friend you can go fuck yourself!
The 2001 album, released on Gold Standard Laboratories, is out of print and not on streaming, something that baffles me considering everything since is readily available via Warp. My favorite full-length after the debut is probably 2019’s Wallop, but they’ve never put out anything close to a stinker. As such, it was easy to compile career-wide video and audio playlists for illuminative purposes. The audio one has a track from each album after the debut, plus two EP joints. The video brackets eight videos from those eight albums with a recent acoustic live video and a festival rendition of the still-so-cathartic "Pardon My Freedom," back when Offer’s shorts first caught my eye ("Tell the president to suck my fucking dick/ Does that sound intelligent?/ Like I give a fucking frick"). One playlist has a Magnetic Fields cover, the other an R.E.M. cover. See if you notice them!
How I Like !!!: The Playlist
How I Like !!!: The Playlist
- “Do The Dial Tone” (Certified Heavy Kats EP, 2020)
- “Pardon My Freedom” (Louden Up Now, 2004)
- “Dancing Is The Best Revenge” (Shake The Shudder, 2017)
- “Storm Around The World” (Let It Be Blue, 2022)
- “Heart Of Hearts” (Myth Takes, 2007)
- “Bam City” (As If, 2015)
- “The Hammer” (Strange Weather, Isn’t It?, 2010)
- “Station (Meet Me At The)” (Thr!!!er, 2013)
- “UR Paranoid” (Wallop, 2019)
- “Take Ecstasy With Me” (Single, 2005)
How I Like !!!: The Videos
- “Storm Around The World” (Live for Paste Magazine, 2022)
- “Every Little Bit Counts” (As If, 2015)
- “Dancing Is The Best Revenge” (Shake The Shudder, 2017)
- “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass” (Strange Weather, Isn’t It?, 2010)
- “Hello? Is This Thing On?” (Louden Up Now, 2004)
- “Heart Of Hearts” (Myth Takes, 2007)
- “Californiyeah” (Thr!!!er, 2013)
- “Man On The Moon” (Let It Be Blue, 2022)
- “UR Paranoid” (Wallop, 2019)
- “Pardon My Freedom” (Live at Lollapalooza, 2007)
(!!! is at 44 on My 300 Favorite Albums Of All Time. I'm telling you this because I've found people are more inclined to discuss and share reviews if there's a quantitative element at the top or bottom they can easily debate. Prove me right!)
If you wanna thank me f0r the grooves or tell me where to find better ones, send those missives to anthonyisright at gmail dot com.