! Louden Up Now CD

They spell their name !!!, but you can call them "chik chik chik," "pow pow pow," etc. A New York-via-Florida outfit that shares members with the similarly inclined Out Hud, !!! was one of the prime instigators of the electro/post-punk revival that started gathering steam in the early 2000s. Though they've obviously listened to their share of Public Image Ltd. and A Certain Ratio (see !!! contemporaries the Rapture and Radio 4),the band leans more towards the electro/disco side of things, throwing in plenty of New Order-derived synthesizers and percolating dance beats amid the angular guitars and confrontational vocals.

Being at the epicenter of hipness at the time of LOUDEN UP NOW, !!! sees fit to lean heavily on in-your-face attitude, to the point that the album comes packaged with a second disc with the voluminous swearing deleted (these boys curse more than a gangsta rapper with Tourette's Syndrome). Given the cyclical nature of pop-culture, one couldn't help but expect a re-revival of this sound a couple of generations down the line, with !!! as one of its primary influences.

Initial Pressings Of "Louden Up Now" Included A Bonus CD.

!!!: John Pugh (vocals, drums, percussion); Gorman Dan (trumpet, keyboards, percussion); Justin van der Volgen (bass guitar, electronics); Tyler Pope (bass guitar, computer); Mario Andreoni (bass guitar); Nic Offer (electronics); Allan Wilson.

Personnel: Nic Offer (vocals, keyboards); Tyler Pope (guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, drum programming); Mario Andreoni (guitar); Allan Wilson (saxophone, keyboards, percussion).

Audio Mixers: Tyler Pope; Nic Offer; Mario Andreoni; Andros Rodriguez; Eric Broyhill; Maurice Fulton.

Recording information: China Crash Studios; NRS; Pus Cavern; Quad Recording Studios; Quad Studios, Nashville, TN; The Hangar.Rolling Stone (p.126) - 3 stars out of 5 - "!!! are hip and mysterious Brooklyn scenesters, and their dark disco punk is as close to a New York sound as anything these days."
Spin (p.140) - "[D]ropping techno squeals between rattling percussion breaks, and swearing like funky sailors..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.166) - "[W]hile their deliciously vulgar kiss-offs and odes to indifference will shake your tail feather..." - Grade:B
Q (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A] tight, loaded second album, which mainlines the guitar'n'drum dance music to the likes of ESG..."
Uncut (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[A]n irresistible party record....rich enough to survive transient fads."
Magnet (p.80) - "[W]ith track after track of itchy/scratchy guitar scree unfolding like spools of wire spaghetti tumbling down a flight of metal stairs....Make no mistake, you will dance."
CMJ (p.6) - "Combining elements of Prince at his funkiest with J.B.s-meets-Liquid Liquid rumpshaking..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.113) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he songs are amped-up, wigged-out party jams....LOUDEN UP NOW is a hot burst of pure energy."