Coalescing in Sacramento, Calif., more than a dozen years ago, !!! (pronounced "Chk Chk Chk") is one of the prime members of the Dance Punk movement it helped usher in with such like-minded new-millennium acts as LCD Soundsystem, The Juan Maclean and The Rapture. The band’s five full-length albums are exuberant fun-house rides built to move asses, each distinguished by the modest-but-expressive voice of unabashedly dorky singer Nic Offer (think of him as the Richard Simmons of the scene) and an urgent, funk-injected musical thrust that does everyone from Gang of Four to Parliament proud.
The band’s latest effort, THR!!!ER, is a departure of sorts — the sprawling sonics of 2002’s breakthrough single “Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” are largely left behind in favor of more concise offerings. Sure, album opener “Even When the Water’s Cold” is markedly less antic than the jittery odysseys of yesteryear, but a tempered !!! is more than enough to keep one’s heart rate north of normal.
Then there’s the very next song, “Get That Rhythm Right,” an addictive jam driven by an incessant beat, jazzy horns, atmospherically processed vocals and a lyrical throw-down that could double as !!!’s new thesis statement: “I’d rather worry about my existential crisis/Laying on a beach where the sun sets the nicest.”
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performs at the Ballroom at the Taft Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Click here for more details .