!!! | |
---|---|
!!! performing at the Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland (2007).
|
|
Background information | |
Origin | Sacramento, California, United States |
Genres | Dance-punk, indie rock, post-punk revival |
Years active | 1996–present |
Labels | Warp, Touch and Go, Gold Standard |
Associated acts | Out Hud, Maserati, Turing Machine, The Juan Maclean, LCD Soundsystem, Thee Oh Sees |
Website | chkchkchk |
Members | Nic Offer Mario Andreoni Dan Gorman Paul Quattrone Rafael Cohen |
Past members | John Pugh Mikel Gius Allan Wilson Tyler Pope Jason Racine Justin Van Der Volgen Jerry Fuchs Shannon Funchess |
!!! (/tʃk.tʃk.tʃk/ chk-CHK-chk) is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996 by lead singer Nic Offer. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. They are currently based in New York City, Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon. The band's sixth full-length album, As If, was released in October 2015.
!!! is an American band formed in the summer of 1995 by the merger of part of the group Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. After a successful joint tour, the two teams decided to mix the disco-funk with more aggressive sounds and integrate the hardcore singer Nic Offer from the Yah Mos. 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, and the URL of their official website and the title of their Myspace page suggest it is the preferred pronunciation.
The band's full-length debut 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.