Just
before their final package of songs at the Avalon in Hollywood, !!! (chk chk chk) frontman, Nic
Offer, cut his infectious stage-prancing to ask a loaded question:
“Well,
Los Angeles, do
you still consider yourself to be the best of what your country has to offer?
Do you still have it? Do we still have it!?”
!!!
As
if the sweat-soaked air hadn’t been hot enough, those words brought the dance
thermometer to a breaking point, where it then gushed all over the last 10
minutes. We responded to every cue; a rock show turned rave for sure.
Mr. Offer, with his Jagger strut and Mercury fist pumps, has an engaging ability to incite a riot. The only thing missing was his trademark awkward short shorts. The band tours with what appears to be a glorified "hype woman" turned secret weapon, Shannon Funchess. She shares vocal duty and she's out of her mind.
.
!!!
can’t be classified, compared, or even described using the phrase “They sound
kind of like ______.”
We
all tried on the drive home and only got as far as: dance-punk, indie-funk?
Combine
that with the fact that their name requires pronunciation instructions, and you
have two major factors working against (yet currently with) them. Perhaps
that’s why they've flustered Internet search engines and indie cocktail party*
conversation for almost 10 years now.
*
(new term: rocktail party?)
The
road to a fresh fan’s ear most likely began with the recent radio singles “Heart of
Hearts” and “Must be the Moon” off this year’s, Myth Takes, their most complete
work to date. Since !!! is the first alphabetically listed record on my Ipod,
it got a lot of air-time this past summer. I’d put the first 3 songs on this
album up against any back-to-back-to-back tracks found in today’s music.
2003’s
Louden Up Now, provided the 9 minute, "Me And Giuliani Down By The School Yard (A
True Story)". Something I’m just now appreciating.
What proved to be the only real challenge of the night was getting a video of Heart of Hearts; not so much a steady hand issue, as it was trying to refrain from the dancing issue.
WATCH BELOW. heart of hearts (live last night)
and a big thanks to Kati, Joe, and Jack for inviting Cosmo and I, an hour before the show :)
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