!!!
Encyclopedia
!!! 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
.
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 Bushmen
s' 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 bassline
s, psychedelic
guitar
s, 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.
John Frusciante
of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
saw the band in a gig in Los Angeles
and invited them to support the Red Hot Chili Peppers during their 2006 tour of the UK.
On November 8, 2009, the band's former drummer Jerry Fuchs
- who was also a member of Maserati
, Turing Machine
and The Juan MacLean
- died after falling down an elevator shaft.
Dance-punk
Dance-punk is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the post-punk and No Wave movements.-Predecessors:...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
that formed in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, 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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Background and history
After a tour together, members of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
bands Black Liquorice and Popesmashers formed !!!. The band's name was inspired by the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 film, written and directed by Jamie Uys. The film is the first in The Gods Must Be Crazy series of films. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a Sho of the Kalahari Desert whose band has no knowledge of the world beyond...
, in which the clicking sounds
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
of the Bushmen
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
s' Khoisan language
Khoisan languages
The Khoisan languages are the click languages of Africa which do not belong to other language families. They include languages indigenous to southern and eastern Africa, though some, such as the Khoi languages, appear to have moved to their current locations not long before the Bantu expansion...
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
Gold Standard Laboratories
Gold Standard Laboratories or GSL was an independent record label which was founded in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado by Sonny Kay. In 2000, it was relocated to San Diego, California, USA, and two years later, to Los Angeles. It was headquartered in L.A...
. This was followed in 2003 by the single "Me and Giuliani Down By the School Yard", a lengthy track combining house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
beats with sinewy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
s, psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, and simple lyrics which quote the title song of the musical Footloose
Footloose (musical)
Footloose is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow , the lyrics by Dean Pitchford , and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie.-Act 1:...
.
A second full-length, Louden Up Now, was released on Touch and Go
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...
in America and on Warp Records in Europe in June 2004. In June 2005, !!! released a new EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
covering "Take Ecstasy With Me" by The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
, and "Get Up" by Nate Dogg
Nate Dogg
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale , better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician. He is noted for his membership of rap trio 213 and his solo career in which he collaborated with Dr. Dre, Warren G, Tupac and Snoop Dogg on many hit releases. Nate Dogg released three solo albums, G-Funk...
. The following December, the original drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
for the band, Mikel Gius, was struck and killed by a car while riding his bike. !!! released their third album, Myth Takes
Myth Takes
-Personnel:Band members*Mario Andreoni – guitars, bass guitar, some keyboard, some percussion*Daniel Gorman – horns, some synths, backing vocals*Nic Offer – vocals, keyboards, some guitars*Tyler Pope – guitars, bass guitar, synths, drum programming...
in 2007.
!!! is composed of Mario Andreoni (guitar), Dan Gorman (horns
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
/percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
/keys
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
), 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
Out Hud
Out Hud was an electronic band formed in 1996 in the Bay Area of California and later based in New York City. The band consisted of guitarist Nic Offer, bassist Tyler Pope, cellist Molly Schnick, vocalist/drummer Phyllis Forbes and mixer Justin Van Der Volgen. Pope, Offer, and Van Der Volgen are...
(including Tyler Pope, who has played with LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...
and written music for Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
).
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.
John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
saw the band in a gig in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and invited them to support the Red Hot Chili Peppers during their 2006 tour of the UK.
On November 8, 2009, the band's former drummer Jerry Fuchs
Jerry Fuchs
Gerhardt "Jerry" Fuchs was an American indie rock drummer, writer and graphic artist. Fuchs was a member of the bands Turing Machine, The Juan MacLean, !!! and Maserati and performed drums live with the groups MSTRKRFT and LCD Soundsystem.-Career:Fuchs attended college at the University of...
- who was also a member of Maserati
Maserati (band)
Maserati is a band from Athens, Georgia, United States whose sound is best described as a combination of post-rock and psychedelic influences. Their music is instrumental, relying on the standard rock instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums...
, Turing Machine
Turing Machine (band)
Turing Machine is an instrumental rock band formed in New York City in 1998 by Justin Chearno and Scott DeSimon, late of DC's noise-rockers Pitchblende and Gerhardt 'Jerry' Fuchs, who had moved to New York to play with Bitch Magnet guitarist Jon Fine's new band, Vineland...
and The Juan MacLean
The Juan MacLean
John MacLean, better known by the stage name The Juan MacLean, is an American electronic musician.-History:Maclean was guitarist for the post-hardcore band Six Finger Satellite, based in Providence, Rhode Island. The band was struck by several tragedies, and Maclean eventually moved into production...
- died after falling down an elevator shaft.
Discography
Albums
- !!!!!! (album)!!! is the eponymous debut album by !!!. It was released in 2001 on Gold Standard Laboratories.-Personnel:*Guitar – Mario Andreoni*Bass – Justin Van Der Volgen*Vocals – Nic Offer*Trumpet and percussion – Dan Gorman...
– (November, 2001, Gold Standard Labs) - Louden Up Now – (June 7, 2004, Touch and Go/Warp) #4 (U.S. Electronic Albums), #14 (U.S. Independent AlbumsBillboard chartsThe Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
), #20 (U.S. HeatseekersTop HeatseekersTop Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
) - Myth TakesMyth Takes-Personnel:Band members*Mario Andreoni – guitars, bass guitar, some keyboard, some percussion*Daniel Gorman – horns, some synths, backing vocals*Nic Offer – vocals, keyboards, some guitars*Tyler Pope – guitars, bass guitar, synths, drum programming...
– (March 5, 2007, Warp) #3 (U.S. Electronic Albums), #4 (CMJCollege Music JournalCollege Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
Radio 200), #8 (U.S. Heatseekers), #25 (U.S. Independent Albums), #195 (Billboard 200Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
) - Strange Weather, Isn't It?Strange Weather, Isn't It?Strange Weather, Isn't It? is the fourth album by dance punk group !!!, released on August 24, 2010 on Warp Records. The album's first single, "AM/FM", was made available as a free download from the band's website and was released on limited edition clear vinyl on July 13, 2010.-Track listing:#...
(August 24, 2010, Warp)
EPs
- GSL26/LAB SERIES VOL. 2 – (Split with Out HudOut HudOut Hud was an electronic band formed in 1996 in the Bay Area of California and later based in New York City. The band consisted of guitarist Nic Offer, bassist Tyler Pope, cellist Molly Schnick, vocalist/drummer Phyllis Forbes and mixer Justin Van Der Volgen. Pope, Offer, and Van Der Volgen are...
, 1999, Gold Standard Labs) - Live Live Live – (November 2004, Beat Records, Japan only)
- Take Ecstasy with Me/Get UpTake Ecstasy With Me/Get UpTake Ecstasy with Me/Get Up is a 2005 EP by American dance-punk band !!!.Both tracks on the EP are covers. "Take Ecstasy with Me" is originally by The Magnetic Fields and appeared on the 1994 album Holiday, while "Get Up" is originally by Nate Dogg and appeared on the 2003 album Nate Dogg.-Track...
– (June 7, 2005, Touch and Go Records) - Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass E.P. – (November 2010)
Singles
- "The Dis-Ease/The Funky Branca" – (1998, 7")
- "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" – (2003, CD, 12")
- "Pardon My Freedom" – (2004, 12")
- "Hello? Is This Thing On?" – (2004, CD, 12")
- "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A Remix)" – (2004, single-sided 12")
- "Heart of Hearts" – (2007, 12" picture disc and download)
- "Must Be the Moon" – (2007, 12" picture disc and download)
- "AM/FM" – (2010, 12" picture disc and download)
External links
- Interview for Aural States, Oct 2007
- !!! on NPR's "All Things Considered"
- Interview with Nic Offer, August 2010
Video
- PUNKCAST#423 live @ NYU, NYC – Mar 25 2004. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
)