Albums in dance music are difficult beasts. Many a DJ and band have released a handful of great club tunes only to come unstuck across a full album. Firstly there’s the temptation to fill the CD with twelve end of the night, hands in the air, floor fillers. Invariably the standard will vary greatly and the listener is worn out by the third song. Second temptation rears it’s head in the immortal ‘made for a film that doesn’t exist’ ploy, giving carte blanche for the artisit to indulge their pretentious side. The handful of great dance albums however worked through having one eye on the dance floor whilst taking the listener through a journey of mood, tension and release. Underworld, in particular, were very good at this, as were Orbital and Leftfield (although they lost the plot on the second attempt). !!! know this. Undoubtedly the optimum environment to hear !!! will always remain in a club or live but in ‘Louden Up Now’ they have created an album that can be judged on it’s own merits.
!!! have a distinct advantage in the fact they are a fully fledged band. Utilising live drums, bass, guitar, horn section and keyboards the sound is full and involving. There are also vocals on a majority of the songs. Whilst the sound may lean towards funk and dance music more than their gigs and singles would lead you to believe the post punk guitars are still very much in evidence. Take ‘Hello? Is this thing on?’ with it’s PIL guitars, massively funky bass and up front vocals bringing to mind the Clash and Radio Clash or their legendry 12” mixes. Or current single ‘Pardon my Freedom’ with it’s potty mouth, chopped up rhythms and angular guitars. Vocalist Nic Offer revelling in the swearing culminating in ‘And you can tell the President / to suck my fucking dick’. Now that’s the spirit.
The real stars of the album though are the rhythm section. Consisting of John Pugh on drums and Tyler Pope (also of LCD Soundsystem) on bass they are the engine that powers the !!! experience. Pope in particular is a bassist of rare talent, he finds grooves most bands can only dream of yet also possesses the ability to let the rest of the band breathe at will. When they combine with the horn section as they do on ‘Shit Scheisse Merde Pt 2’ they can conjure up the most moody of skanks with sharp blasts of trumpet and saxaphone. Dark and sleazy just how we like it. Or how about opener ‘When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Karazzee’ with it’s rolling beats and filthy horns defying you to stay still.
|
The star of the show remains ‘Me and Giullani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)’ still nine minutes of undeniable genius now reaching ‘what’s your favourite part?’ status. Is it the outrageously funky opening? Or the swirling hypnotic guitar bit? Or are you taken with the spiky beats of the home straight? There truly is something for everyone whilst not losing it’s overall coherence. It is unlikely !!! (or anyone else for the matter) will ever top it. Big round of applause then for !!! for not fobbing us off with 9 inferior versions for the rest of the album. Rather, each tune has it’s own personality and vibe that combine to make a very satisfying whole. Only ‘Theme from Space Island’ has the whiff of filler about it and we could probably live without ‘Shit Scheisse Merde Pt 1 (instrumental)’ when we’ve already been treated to ‘Shit Scheisse Merde Pt 1’ earlier on. These are minor gripes however, !!! have delivered an excellent record that elevates itself above dance floor anonymity without ever losing sight of it’s purpose. C’mon let a little !!! into your life.
|
