The downside to prosperity; the streets are now filled with cunts. By the train station, one asshole is offering to fight another asshole for $100, women are propping each other up and kids sulk around with meth burns. It's an immature city, choked with cashed up bogans and a lot of nouveau riche kids casually burning up their allowances, the latter of which are cramming into the sold out Bakery. A DJ mixes some great tunes very badly. A few t-shirted doods amble into place and before anyone's had the chance to ask whether these guys are roadies, the bouncy tribal beat of Yadnus ripples round the shuffling mass.

Perth isn't a confrontational environment and the monkey-man antics of !!!'s lead-man seem almost out of place. Ungainly and somewhat out of control, kind of like a disco Jim Morrison, he's provides the unpredictable, belligerent element; which tonight includes a bizarre outburst about having to queue for the toilet. Dude, we don't have special passes either. He incites us to party like it's Saturday night, seemingly unaware it is Saturday night. Regardless, he's at his unruly best whilst chanting "I'll take anyone, I'll take everyone". It may or may not be a literal statement of intent, it's hard to tell. Across from him is a Go-Team-esque black chick vocalist, with just a touch of gym instructor craziness; a good counter punch. The fat is really in the fire by the time we hit Pardon My Freedom, a hostile stomp where the lead-man revels in the license to say what he feels with the word 'fuck' used as punctuation. It's a ride that first sucks your into a delirious groove, then pounds you without consideration. A key touchstone throughout is the under-celebrated guitar work, not through any great skill or dexterity but as a continual quest to sound off-kilter, abstract or just plain different. Solos are a no-no, but this guy's essential to their dynamic. The drummer, another integral part, is a new guy, who nevertheless fits in like a glove. Outwardly unassuming, he's all one mass of hair with barely a sliver of face peeking through, a funky Chewbacca who's for the most part forming the simple but effective mathematical root on which his comrades can build.

It's hurting me that I don't know the name of their penultimate offering. It has a familiar, killer pulse not too far from Pardon My Freedom but slower and with a growing, irresistible momentum that threatens to roll right over us all and some sweet-ass acid synth lines rising like spikes. It's a fix for the party kids, with ample butt shaking. The vocals when they finally hit consist largely of screeching monkey noises. I don't know if this is a new composition with lyrics that have yet to be penned but I damn straight hope it remains this way. On record !!! tend to neaten up their excess and trim their song lengths; live they're a disparate animal, a hot, sweaty brute, crawling up from a grimy New York basement. Ample time is taken to explore the rhythm, each interlocking part combining in pursuit of one unstoppable, infinite groove. Heart of Hearts wraps it up nicely being their catchiest piece. There's no Me and Giulani..., Hello, Is This Thing On?, Take Ecstasy With Me - how much potential could that have live; a triptomatic, neo-Balearic excursion - it'd be a rallying cry if it wasn't so brazenly lunched out.

Despite having defined their elemental sound as far back as 2001, when the whole disco-punk marriage had barely reached first date status, there's fundamentally something different about these guys. It might be due to their inflated number, usually seven, which means there's always someone free to attack some extra weird-fangled instrument or effect-box, or even the way they approach their art - it's tricky to pin down. I'm not really sure who the hell !!! are. Too karazee for the art-house, too arty for mass acceptance. Besides defending the right to take your pants off, swearing copiously and partying like it's Saturday night, I'm not sure what else they stand for. But then it is Saturday night. It's enough.

Transcribed by ReverndChris