!!!

!!! is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996 by lead singer Nic Offer. Its name is most commonly pronounced "Chk Chk Chk" ([/tʃk.tʃk.tʃk/]). 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.[1][2][3]

Contents 1 Background and history 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 EPs 2.3 Singles 2.4 Other projects 3 References 4 External links

Background and history
!!! 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, these two teams decided to mix the disco-funk with more aggressive sounds and integrate the hardcore singer Nic Offer from the 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,[2] which the URL of their official website and the title of their Myspace page suggest is the preferred pronunciation.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

They released their third album, Myth Takes in 2007.[7][8]

!!! performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on May 2, 2004. !!! 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).[9]

Vocalist and drummer John Pugh officially left the band in July 2007 to concentrate on his new band Free Blood.[10] Shannon Funchess stood in for Pugh during much of their 2007 tour.[11]

Discography
Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title

Album details

Peak chart positions

US

US Elect

FRA [12]

JPN [13]

UK [14]

!!! Released: November, 2001 Label: Gold Standard Labs — — — — — Louden Up Now Released: June 7, 2004 Label: Touch and Go/Warp — 4 — — 135 Myth Takes Released: March 5, 2007 Label: Warp 195 3 — 36 135 Strange Weather, Isn't It? Released: August 24, 2010 Label: Warp — — — 54 — THR!!!ER Released: April 28, 2013 Label: Warp — — 117 62 121 As If Released: October 16, 2015 Label: Warp — — — 80 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

EPs GSL26/LAB SERIES VOL. 2 (Split with Out Hud, 1999, Gold Standard Labs) Live Live Live (November 2004, Beat Records, Japan only) Take Ecstasy with Me/Get Up (June 7, 2005, Touch and Go Records) Yadnus (2007) Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass E.P. (November 2010)

Singles

!!!'s Nic Offer, supporting The Red Hot Chili Peppers in Reading, England (2006). List of singles, with selected chart positions

Title

Year

Peak chart positions

Album

UK [14]

"The Dis-Ease/The Funky Branca" 1998 — Single-only release

"Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" 2003 84 Louden Up Now

"Pardon My Freedom" 2004 —

"Hello? Is This Thing On?" 74

"Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A Remix)" — Single-only release

"Heart of Hearts" 2007 — Myth Takes

"Must Be the Moon" —

"AM/FM" 2010 — Strange Weather, Isn't It?

"Slyd" 2013 — THR!!!ER

"One Girl / One Boy" —

"All U Writers" 2015 — As If

"Freedom '15" / "Sick Ass Moon" —

"Bam City" / "Ooo" —

Other projects !!! (1997, tour cassette) Stereolad, a Stereolab cover band side project, containing the members of !!! [15]