!!!: All U Writers / Gonna Guetta Stomp

Sacramento/New York dance punk group !!! — or, if you’re into pronouncing things, “chk chk chk” — are back with a 12” single for Record Store Day. The synth-heavy septet has consistently put out material since the end of the last millennium. Like NYC contemporaries LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture, they bring humor and shameless energy to the mix, though the band sips more deeply from the funk and disco fountains.

The A-side is a particularly funky call to the writers, with multiple vocalists from seductive to sassy. Everything about the track screams 1978, and that can be fun. Nothing about the song is sacred, and neither this nor “Gonna Guetta Stomp” ever linger in one place. The problem is that in both cases, the product never really surprises, even in its well-crafted transitions. These songs hit hard but can feel like they’re just going through the motions.