!!! - Myth Takes

Disco freaks branch out to the masses

Like a well-wrapped present from a loved one with a curious fascination for Sellotape, the pleasure of !!! is one that isn’t given away for nothing. Myth Takes, like the previous offering, Louden Up Now (2004), is a treat that requires a certain degree of leg-work. Thankfully, though, they’ve turned down the resistance on this outing, and the record is all the better for it.

The opening title track is a bass-driven stomp fresh from a Quentin Tarantino feature: spoken words fighting for attention with inhuman echoed strains. It’s an unnecessary sore thumb in an album that otherwise meanders and flows delightfully. All My Heroes Are Weirdos “woo-oohs” into New Moon’s school-disco beats, which, in turn, melts sweetly into the stripped-down, minimalist groove of A New Name.

Crowning moments come in the shape of Heart Of Hearts, one of the few tracks afforded the immediacy of a catchy chorus, sees it pushed forward as the album’s lead single. Bend Over Beethoven, meanwhile, ducks, dips and dives between bass lines and shimmering guitar reverberations, leading into the psych-funk medley of Break In Case Of Anything. It’s certainly easy on the ears and feet, but too often passes by without taking off.

Warp Records | WARPCD 154

Reviewed by Sam Coare
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