| !!! | |
|---|---|
!!! performing at the Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland (2007). |
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| 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 |
| Website | chkchkchk.net |
| Members | |
| Nic Offer Allan Wilson Mario Andreoni Tyler Pope Dan Gorman Sean McGahan Shannon Funchess Paul Quattrone |
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| Past members | |
| John Pugh Mikel Gius Jason Racine Justin Van Der Volgen Jerry Fuchs |
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!!! (generally pronounced English pronunciation: /tʃk.tʃk.tʃk/ [1]) 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.
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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.[1] The URL of their official website and the title of their MySpace page, however, suggests that "Chk Chk Chk" is the preferred pronunciation.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4] !!! released their third album, Myth Takes in 2007.[5][6]
!!! 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.[7] Shannon Funchess stood in for Pugh during much of their 2007 tour.[8]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Elect | UK [9] |
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| !!! |
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— | — | — | ||||||
| Louden Up Now |
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— | 4 | 135 | ||||||
| Myth Takes |
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195 | 3 | 135 | ||||||
| Strange Weather, Isn't It? |
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— | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] |
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| "The Dis-Ease/The Funky Branca" | 1998 | — | |
| "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" | 2003 | 84 | |
| "Pardon My Freedom" | 2004 | — | |
| "Hello? Is This Thing On?" | 74 | ||
| "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A Remix)" | — | ||
| "Heart of Hearts" | 2007 | — | |
| "Must Be the Moon" | — | ||
| "AM/FM" | 2010 | — |
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