Legendary dance-punk outfit !!! are back, here to help shake the stay-at-home malaise with an EP of dance-floor focused songs, titled Certified Heavy Kats. The EP will be released on Warp on July 31st.
From the lascivious 2-step of “Do The Dial Tone” to the caffeinated footwork pop of “Maybe You Can’t Make It”, this collection follows in the footsteps of last year’s standout LP Wallop, paying homage to the varying strains of club music the band has always turned to for inspiration. Mixing elements of Chicago House, UK Garage, NYC Disco, and a bit of everything in between, Certified Heavy Katz is a high-wire act between subtly-produced grooves and controlled sonic chaos from a veteran band firing on all cylinders, featuring contributions from Liars frontman Angus Andrew, Maria Uzor of UK duo Sink Ya Teeth, and longtime co-vocalist Meah Pace.
“This is us exploring the outer edges of what we do,” explains frontman Nic Offer. “We try a lot of different things with the hopes of coming up with something fresh by getting it wrong. How wrong did we get it this time?”
Lead single “Do The Dial Tone” is out now with a lyric video by animator Cheng-Hsu Chung, continuing an exciting creative partnership with the band. Chung previously directed the deliriously freaky video for the Wallop single “Couldn’t Have Known”. “We thought of ‘Do The Dial Tone’ as a KLF/Enigma-type call and response on the eve of destruction,” says Offer, and it’s easy to imagine a doomsday rave writhing it out to the driving breakbeat and paranoid synth lines.
Elsewhere on the EP, the band explores liquefied neo-soul on “Let It Fall”, gothic club duets with Angus Andrew on “Tighten The Grip”, Deee-Lite-era sampler funk on “Wonderful Life”, and psychedelic house on the closing anthem “Walk It Off”.
After almost two decades of unforgettable dance-floor moments and raucous live sets, these hardworking NYC icons show no signs of letting up. Certified Heavy Katz is a friendly reminder that we could all could use some more !!! in our lives. Our ears and hips will be thankful.