, which can be pronounced by repeating any one-syllable percussive sound three times (e.g., "chk chk chk"), formed in 1996 after the demise of
; while on tour, members of that post-hardcore act envisioned forming a band oriented toward danceable music, and once they returned to their native Sacramento, CA, they turned the concept into an actual group. The band quickly became an eight-member ensemble:
on percussion.
!!! spent its first few years developing its groove-oriented, post-punk-indebted sound while playing local house parties. At the same time,
Offer,
Pope, and
van der Volgen were in a dub-inflected instrumental outfit called
Out Hud. After releasing a 7" on Hopscotch and a split single with
Out Hud in 1998, the two bands issued a split full-length, a 1999 release jointly sponsored by Gold Standards Laboratories (a Sacramento label) and Zum (a San Francisco zine).
After extensive touring of the States,
!!! released a self-titled album on GSL in December 2000. Soon after, the band re-entered the studio and recorded enough material for a follow-up. Some members moved to New York, but the group remained intact and active as it booked regional tours. In 2003, the band issued
Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story), its first release -- a ringing, hypnotic single nine minutes in length -- for Touch and Go. It set the tone for 2004's politically charged
Louden Up Now, mixed to bold effect by
Maurice Fulton. The relatively lighthearted
Myth Takes and Strange Weather, Isn't It? (their first for new label Warp) were the band's third and fourth albums, released respectively in March 2007 and August 2010.
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Josh Eppert, Rovi