Funk, dub, left-field disco, Krautrock: If it has a deep swerve and a hint of outsider status, !!! are down with it. The nominally dance-punk (but really, just dance) band has absorbed the polyrhythmic and multicultural lessons of post-No Wave groups like ESG and Liquid Liquid, updating the percolating good-times vibe with high-octane guitars and modern polish. This year, they followed up their most brazen album, 2007’s Myth Takes, with the solid but low-impact Strange Weather, Isn’t It?, which is long on proficient dance beats but short on inspired hooks. That album’s “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass” is a nice little number that fakes toward blues-rock before veering into taut funk, but as sleazy pillow-talk jams go, it’s a pale imitation of Myth Takes’ “Must Be the Moon”. That Strange Weather’s standout track (which heads up this remix EP) is a rehash of prior glory exemplifies the LP’s limitations.
A decent remix either stands on its own as a thoughtful piece of music or does something interesting and creative with the source material. A really good remix does both. Ex-A.R.E. Weapons member Thomas Bullock scores a really good one with his deep retooling of “The Hammer”. The original version, a dreamy ice-pricked groove with passages of molten force, was already one of Strange Weather’s most alluring tracks. Bullock dials down its entrancing minimalism even tighter, with an epically tense build that muscles through jackhammer drum rolls before finally unclenching into a euphoric lope. It has the internal cohesion of an original production. By way of contrast, Canyons’ remix of the same song is classically well-wrought, with a breezier texture and dubby vocal edits, but its vampy quality is very pronounced when heard next to Bullock’s vision and drive: You never forget for a second that you’re hearing someone tweaking and filtering !!! stems.
People talk a lot of shit about indie remix EPs, and with good reason. At worst, they’re pointless cash-grabs; at best, they tend to include a few standout mixes. But like other indie groups who’ve released surprisingly fertile remix EPs, such as Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem, !!! uses dance music as a foundation so remixers have tons to work with. This EP actually achieves the feat of casting a revelatory light on some album tracks. In the battle over “The Most Certain Sure”, Bibio’s predictable IDM mix loses out to Liv Spencer’s slinky nighttime crawl, but both draw out hidden moods that were latent in the original. And Tim Goldsworthy should get a medal for turning the innocuous indie-funk of “Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks” into a wide-eyed art-pop celebration. All in all, here’s the rare remix EP that I’ll probably listen to more than the original record.
— Brian Howe, November 1, 2010