!!!Thr!!!er
Warp / Inertia

- Californian dance-punks !!! have been freaking out the squares and getting their groove on something fierce for well over a decade now, the wild menagerie refusing to let the party die, despite a certain indifference amongst sections of the punters.

!!!'s earliest records were these carefree, spazzed out and chaotic trips through a bizarre and almost terrifyingly funked-out, disco-tinged space galaxy. Their hypnotic and pulsating rhythm section would spend a solid five minutes or so slowly massaging your brainwaves into submission. Frontman Nic Offer deftly switched between his repetitive, understated vocal to wild barks and yelps, the perennially g'd up frontman exploding right on cue, providing the aural conviction to match the group's mesmerising instrumentation.

If I'm anything to go on, as the years slowly roll on by and I edge ever closer to an early grave, the intrinsic urge and mental willingness to party the night away can dull something fierce, the fire in my belly now just lukewarm embers, barely fuelling my desire to crawl out of bed every morning.

It's for this reason I can't be all that surprised nor upset that !!!'s fifth album, the slightly ironically titled Thr!!!er comes up just a little short and a little limp, the once out-of-control group sounding a little too in control for this old and wizened heart.

In the scheme of things there's really nothing wrong here. If I walked into my local David Jones on the cruise for a turtle neck I'd be absolutely stoked to hear the sounds of Thr!!!er blaring. The band's continued leanings towards funky-indie-disco a surreal and surely welcomed treat amongst the retail snore-fest.

Unfortunately the time I spend not at David Jones trumps those moments I do. And for this reason I find !!!'s Thr!!!er to be a fun, yet ultimately unrewarding record from the group. A pleasant bookmark that really just makes me want to listen to go back and listen to their previous records, which I ultimately have done since and it was great. !!! are a good band, slogging it out in a world that left them behind, trying to make a life for themselves and for that I can't fault them. Maybe next time round !!!. I'll still have half an eye on you.

- Jay Edwards.

!!!Thr!!!er

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