It’s hard to imagine Nic Offer toiling over anything (because it’s hard to imagine Nic Offer sitting still for five seconds), but it must happen. Proof: !!! records. Offer and the rest of boys ‘n’ girls in !!! tend to take their good, sweet time, releasing a new record every three years or so. And because it’s been over three years since the release of the dance-punk outfit’s last record, Myth Takes, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, on August 24, Warp will release Strange Weather, Isn’t It?, !!!’s fourth record.
Following in the footsteps of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Depeche Mode (and Liars, though I doubt the new !!! record will bear much resemblance to Drum’s Not Dead), the group trekked out to Berlin to record the new album. “Everyone’s got a Berlin record in them and I guess we just wanted to see what ours would sound like,” Offer said. As it turns out, only about a fourth of the record was recorded in Berlin (with the rest being split between New York and Sacramento), so it’s more like 25% of a Berlin record. Still, the group claims to have drawn inspiration from the wisdom of the frequently Berlin-based Brian Eno, so there’s still something to that whole “Berlin record” thing.
Strange Weather, Isn’t It? will mark the recorded unveiling of !!!’s new lineup. Where the group could once double as a functional basketball team, the lineup has, with the departure of John Pugh and Justin Vandervolgen, been whittled down to a recording lineup of Offer, guitarist Mario Andreoni, horn player/keyboardist Daniel Gorman, and saxophonist/percussionist Allan Wilson, with drummer Paul Quattrone and vocalist Shannon Funchess on board for their live show. The new record will also be the group’s first since the tragic death of drummer Jerry Fuchs last year (TMT News).
Strange Weather, Isn’t It tracklist:
01. AM/FM
02. The Most Certain Sure
03. Wannagain Wannagain
04. Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass
05. Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks
06. Hollow
07. Jump Back
08. Even Judas Gave Jesus a Kiss
09. The Hammer
