!!! – Louden Up Now
(Touch & Go)

It has been many years since it was feasible to even think about dancing to rock music, but with recent beat-oriented bands like The Rapture and Le Tigre taking underground clubs by storm, there is suddenly a lot of booty shaking going on. It has yet to emerge as a full-blown trend, mainly for lack of a trademark sound and style, but of course this is exactly what makes the movement special. Each band is bringing their own unique sense of rhythm to the dance floor, and !!! are among those adding to the diversity.

Terms like “electro-clash” and “dance-punk” apply very little to a band like !!!, in fact, with a name like that it’s pretty obvious that they’re not interested in easy labels or categories anyways. According to them, the band name is essentially open to interpretation — call them “chik-chik-chik”, “pow-pow-pow” or any other repeated 3 syllable expression of excitement. It’s not all that important. What is important is that you drop any preconceptions you might have and lose yourself in their music.

Louden Up Now is their second full length album and first for Touch & Go; definitely a step up in terms of exposure, but musically it finds them expanding their vision. While their trademark funk elements and punk energy are still in the mix, the songs seem to wander a lot more. There is much less liberal use of horns and a lot more electronic beats — fans of dub, house and other electronic dance genres will feel at home. There is a repetitious, trance influence at points, with some songs dragging on longer than they probably should. The opening track “When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Karazzee”, for example, is not the strongest starting point, but the album quickly picks up steam. The extended groove is more than welcome on “Pardon My Freedom” , and also on the 7-minute “Hello? Is This Thing On?” where the beats give way to throbbing bass and horn breakdowns.

At first glance there appear to be some political undertones on the album but it’s pretty hard to take them seriously when pretentious art school silliness also abounds on songs like the two-part epic “Shit Scheisse Merde”. Truth be told, the lyrics are often amusing but certainly not deep or profound.

The album’s best song is something we’ve previously heard, specifically the title cut from last year’s Me And Guiliani Down By The School Yard EP. This may be a disappointment for those who were hoping the EP was a mere taste of what was to come, but on the other hand, it’s a sweeping 9-minute dance floor epic that’s hard to top. Other new favourites include “Dear Can” with its Prince meets no-wave aesthetic and driving percussion.

I can’t deny that !!! are an acquired taste and this album will probably take time to grow on you even if you are already a fan. However, once you get into their groove you’ll find yourself hooked. Louden Up Now is one of the most original albums you’re likely to hear this year so give it a spin — if you think you can handle it that is. “Y’all could learn a lesson by losing inhibitions / Losing yourself in the music, losing yourself in the moment cuz we have nothing more than this very second”. Hey maybe those lyrics are more profound than I give them credit for. — Sean