Twelve Inches of Pleasure #3 - !!!

!!! - Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story) [Warp Records 2003] - Cat# WAP163

Okay let's deal with the elephant in the room first shall we? !!! is pronounced Chk Chk Chk, or any other three repetitive sounds. They even slap a sticker on the front of their records to explain this. Not since those long ago nutty days of Prince changing his name to squiggle have we had such pretentiousness with a band name. The difference here though is that !!! are fucking aces, whereas Prince was already well on his way down towards the Mormon internet only triple album dumpster where he now resides.

Phew! Anyway, Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story) (did I already use the word pretentious?), is a euphoric slab of dance/funk/punk excellence. It kicks off like it's in the middle of another song before settling down into a wonderfully dirty groove. This is one of those journey records that Funkadelic, Can or early post Barrett Floyd used to make, except there's no denying what era this 12" is from. This is most definitely post house and subsequently is packed full of hands in the air moments. The best of which starts with the song being stripped back to just drums around the three and a half minute mark, then they pile on extra drums followed by a throbbing pulsing bass, next up come the dry chiming guitar chords, still building, constantly building upwards, then the guitar gets more frantic and finally just when it feels like everything that's happened before is going to collapse, comes the triumphant bored-slacker barked vocal "people always ask me, what's so fucking great about dancing?''. It's a killer moment that the song never really manages to top. 

This is one of my favourite ever singles, it's prog for the dance generation, it's uplifting without being braindead, but best of all it works on a dance floor. It's one of those tracks that everyone should play before leaving home on a Saturday night. Honestly.

Seven Inches of Joy #1 - Escape Pod

Escape Pod - Losing Control [Dead Digital 2003] - Cat# DD04

I picked up this little slice of greatness thanks to it getting a tip top review by those good types over at Norman Records in Leeds. The sleeve is nice sturdy card (not quite as thick as a 60's DOT LP, but not as flimsy as a 80's Sarah paper wraparound either), it even has an inner bag (nice touch).

The song itself is a wonderful slice of The Beta Band meets The Beach Boys by way of Twisted Nerve. Which is fitting since it was released during the lull between the Beta's Hot Shots II and Heroes to Zeroes. Great harmonies, gurgling electronics, acoustic guitars and the DJ's enemy a sudden pause, make this one of those singles that reveals itself more and more with each listen.

Losing Control builds and builds over it's four minute running time from a basic drum machine pattern with acoustic guitar plucks, to a full on everything but the kitchen sink type affair, before suddenly ending (very suddenly mind you). That it manages this without sounding cluttered is one of the things I adore about it. The vocals are very Steve Mason with what sounds like a bit of added backwards reverb, while the backing vocals alternate between sounding like a budget Mellotron on choir setting, and groggy yodel.

Since the first time I slapped this on the turntable it's been a favourite, yet I've never met another soul who even knows the band let alone anything by them. This was their second single, and they only managed one more before going the way of so many bands before them. I've never been able to find anything out about them either, despite writing to their Manchester based label (twice). Oh in case you're wondering the flip side (Change of Pace) is okay, but not a patch on it's big brother. This can be picked up for pennies on E-Bay too.