Where have all the dance-punks gone? It was once a genre heralded by bands like Liars, the Rapture, Panthers, LCD Soundsystem, and countless others nearly a decade ago. (It freaks me out to be writing stuff like that.) It was dancey as all get out (of course), but also rough like sandpaper, scathing, loud and sharp. Oh yeah: and rude. And !!! might have been the rudest of them all. But what was once a fresh and vibrant style for an underground subcultural movement, has, like anything else, slowly become co-opted and commodified, or others within the genre’s founding fathers have strayed into different directions, effectively dissipating the genre altogether. Sure, new styles and offshoots have spawned along the way (see: Crystal Castles for a very contemporary example). As for the originators, Liars went the direction of experimental weirdness, Panthers... I have no idea what Panthers are up to, LCD Soundsystem are officially mainstream, and !!!?

Well, here they are: Nic Offer’s band of misfits is back again with another banging record. And yes, to cut to the chase, it’s much less punk than the band ever used to be, but !!! seem to be evolving with the best of them. Still, there are some elements of these bands’ original sound that I really miss. But as with other genres in the dance arena, bands within this loosely defined category were probably never out to set themselves up to be something a journalist would lazily slap a label on or unfairly pigeonhole. No, !!! had (and still have) one goal: to get your booty shaking by any means necessary. Throw on Strange Weather, Isn’t It? and your booty will shake. Mission accomplished.

Two great things about !!! in general. One, the band manages to avoid always resorting to the 4/4 heavy quarter-note stomp in the bass drum. They don’t forget that this is one of the easiest beats to dance to, and the groove propels songs like “The Hammer” and “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass” quite nicely. But the most interesting tracks, and ironically the ones that feel more heavily tailored for the dance floor, are those in which the band takes some liberties with the low end, composing bass drum rhythms to synch with the bass guitar for some exceptionally hard hitting jams. Second, !!! aren’t afraid to specifically not write pop tunes. Even though most of the songs are concisely focused around the 3-5 minute mark, and do center around self-referentially catchy hooks, textures and grooves are elongated to unfold into sprawling, psychedelic infused adventures that hold tight to the sound of Out Hud (a sadly now defunct !!! side-project), and never fail to hold interest. Even if the band doubles back on a section, they make sure to play it that much harder, richer, and wetter the second time to keep things flowing.

With Strange Weather, !!! call to mind a modern day ESG. With the Detroit House-style female vocals backing up Offer with very simple melodies (more call-and-response-like shouts), like ESG, the groove is absolutely paramount and a central glue that binds the record together. “Hollow” is about as musically hollow as its title suggests, a surprisingly stark and dry turn with a minimal guitar line and no real instrumental basis for a hook in an otherwise saturated set of tunes overflowing with instrumental arrangements. A track like “Hollow” feels better for its sample-able nature than it does for being a truly great !!! song.

Nic Offer’s voice is a strange thing to criticize. Overall, he is simply better the cruder he sounds. When he works toward pristine pop melody, he ends up sounding something like Duran Duran or Crowded House. On the flip side, the more intense and loose he gets, the more he sounds like Nic Offer. This writer prefers the latter, but even when he’s at his closest to home, a line like “Is this how you thought it’d happen, that the punchline is you?” has nothing on something like, oh, say... “If you’re looking for a friend, well you can fuck yourself!” from the band’s debut.

And this is what I really miss about the band’s early recordings: Offer’s just way too tame these days. !!! have finally created an essentially flawless record (at least technically), and surely this is the band at their most accessible, ready-to-break state. Still, the new album is a far cry from anything as memorable as their incredible first album and the timeless and unbelievably amazing “Me and Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard.” It’s not so much the quality of the music as it is the band’s own history and influence on the trajectory of punk, which now feels less consequential than it once did. But as easy it is to say “it’ll never be like it was,” it’s equally as hard to say that this isn’t a great album in its own right. The sweat on my brow speaks for itself: hot, hot, hot.

Track List:
1. AM FM
2. The Most Certain Sure
3. Wannagain Wannagain
4. Jamie My Intentions Are Bass
5. Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks
6. Hollow
7. Jump Back
8. Even Judas Gave Jesus a Kiss
9. The Hammer
10. Blue (Bonus Track)
11. Made of Money (Bonus Track)