!!!

The goal of today’s dance-rock movement (Hot Hot Heat, Hint Hint, the Rapture, etc.) is laughably unattainable. But reaching out to the humorless, funkless scenester population in an attempt to dash those ironic smirks, uncross those skinny arms and, ultimately, replace self-conscious posturing with primal stoo-pidity (stupidity being an altogther different thing) is a noble, if misguided, enterprise. Bicoastal seven-piece !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) is the best-equipped of the whole tired lot to achieve those ends. The group stretches its funk paper-thin yet keeps those masturbatory disco beats throbbing so hard that you’re forced to pulse with them. Doofy singer Nik Offer makes James Chance look like a staid schoolmarm, and quite frankly, he’s a horrible vocalist and lyricist — but he does have an arresting presence that helps drive !!! straight into your nervous system.