Myth Takes [!!!]

If indie music is supposed to be all of the original and new ideas in music, naming your band a series of ambiguous noises would be hard to top.

Basic Info:  

Album:  Myth Takes

Artist:  !!!

Release Date:  March 6, 2007

Release Number:  3rd Full Length Album

Track Number:  10 Tracks

Album Length:  48:12

Price (Amazon):  $14.99

Genre:  Indie-pop

Band Bio:

Formed from the ashes of the bands "Black Liquorice" and "Popesmashers" while the two were on tour together, !!! is a nice mix between a variety of styles and genres.  The band name is a reference to the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and can be pronounced thousands of different ways.  The name of the group is ANY monosyllabic sound repeated three times.  But most commonly, you're going to hear them referred to as "Chik Chik Chik".

But I'm sure by now you're wondering what exactly the genre "Indie-pop" is.  It's a blaring contradiction and a huge oxymoron; "indie" implies that it is outside the regular commercialized field of music, but "pop" (which is short for what, kids?) makes the claim that it is the socially excepted musical norm.  So.... where does that put !!!?

When you start dealing with modern genres, you have to confront the fact that there are two ways of interpreting them.  Either you take the literal meaning (as I did above) or you judge based on what it musically sounds most similar to.  And thats the connection that !!! has to pop music.  It's not popular, it's not commercialized, and it's not the same old thing you've heard a thousand times, but its still very reminiscent of typical pop radio.

Album:

This album is fairly on-par for !!!, probably moving in a positive direction from their previous albums, but its easy to see how they got to this album from their last one.  They certainly did create the specific genre that they're in, but they don't seem to want to reinvent it all that much.

That being said, I think that "Myth Takes" is easily their best album to date.

And maybe that's even because they've chosen to stick to what they're good at.  !!! certainly has become a master of their craft.  The entire album is littered with disco/funk-esque beats and groove patterns that just make you want to dance.  Even while you're shaking it to the title track though, you can't help but be aware that this is still one of the most original CD's that will be in your collection. 

The pop-ish side of the album does come through strong though.  The biggest issue you'll have with that is in the way you inevitably will end up viewing the album; its fun, bouncy, catchy, and most importantly, really good music, but it's something you'll want to enjoy in the background or on a car drive.  It's not going to take your full attention.  This makes it great for parties and showing off your cool music to less indie-inclined friends.  Furthermore, EVERYONE will enjoy this album.  I challenge you to find one person that truly dislikes this music.

Lyrically, there are a few exciting puns, but the vocalists use their voices more like instruments.  Unless you go out of your way to pin down what is actually being said, you'll barely even realize that they're speaking english, and you won't be missing out on anything that's really important to the music.  Most of the lines tend to be a tad bit cliché, but clever one-liner titles like "Bend Over Beethoven" and the chorus of "Sweet Life", which consists of the pattern of chords described in terms of "AABB CCDD CCDD DD" (note that they aren't playing the A chord when he sings "A".  It's just the pattern), revive just enough poetic excitement so that its never really frustrating either.  Lyrically, it is perfectly mediocre.

Ratings:

Music:  7.6

Lyrics:  6.4

Originality:  7.4

Bang for your Buck: 7.1

Indie-Cred (Obscurity):  7.0

Total Ranking:  7.10/10

Previews (30 seconds):

Myth Takes

Must Be The Moon

Sweet Life

Bend Over Beethoven

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