by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Split between NYC and Sacramento, funk and punk, Touch and Go (their U.S indie rock label) and Warp (their IDM home in the U.K.), this septet have all 70 fingers in a whopping spread of sweet and savoury pies. Their roots stretch back to 1995, when Sacramento bands the Yah Mos and the Popesmashers played Motown-flavoured punk and dub-dipped rock, respectively, and came together on the weekends for all-night, funked-up dance parties.

"Both bands wanted to get people moving, but not slam-dancing," says guitarist Mario Andreoni, one of two members who still hangs West. "At a certain point, we just decided to get together and try making music that makes us feel like this."

"This" was the thrill of James Brown, the Clash, Gang of Four, ESG and Chic, the latter often cited as the source of their moniker's sound ("chk chk chk") though its written form (!!!) was lifted from The Gods Must Be Crazy's subtitles.

The exclamatory symbols are meant to match the music's enthusiasm and the band's desire to "shake things up," which they have. Their recent single "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" has rocked critics and dancers alike, and their new album, Louden Up Now - a follow-up to their minimally distributed eponymous debut (GSL Records, 2000) - is out on June 8.

"I'm really excited. There are some grooves on this record that we've never messed with before," says Andreoni. "We want to make music that you can listen to at home, that really stands up on its own, and also drives people nuts in a club. They're two totally different listening scenarios, but we're trying to find the medium."

Medium-sized venues like la Sala Rossa, the site of this weekend's Brave New Waves anniversary gig, are a rarity in !!!'s weird world of extremes.

"We love playing super-small places and feeding off each other's body heat," he says, also voicing a love for the big, booming festivals they'll see plenty of this summer. "Most of all, I love the fact that we can do both."

With Barcelona Pavilion and the Mole at la Sala Rossa on Saturday, March 27, 9pm, $12

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