Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 05/02/07
Label: Warp

Back in 2002, Nic Offer and other members of Chk Chk Chk (aka !!!) were in a band called Out Hud whose instrumental album "S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D." (you try searching for this stuff on the internet!) was amongst a growing clutch of punky disco releases seemingly galvanised by James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. It's a record whose combination of abrasive noise and irresistible groove still sounds exciting now, long since both Out Hud and Chk Chk Chk decided to grow beyond that bodymoving blueprint and make regular excursions into the far more prosaic territory of The Song.

Similarly, Chk Chk Chk's opening shot on Warp, "Me and Giuliani…", delivered it's kicks through the fine tension-release formula that Out Hud had worked up. Building cathedrals of guitar into break-outs of pure rhythmic bliss, Offer's vocals here are just another element of the groove. At some point the formula must have lost its shine for the group, because what followed frequently aimed to mark a clear break between the lengthy funk jams and more disciplined three-minute songs.

Which is a shame because Chk Chk Chk are clearly best approached as a dance act; releasing fine extended 12"s with the added bonus that, live, they become something of a force of nature. Through the eight sprawling minutes of "Bend Over Beethoven" they push the pace from growling dub into swelling disco and onto a climactic wall of guitar riffing. In its own way, it's as proggy as some ragged jam band who happen to have stumbled across ecstasy and the nightclubs of 21st century recreation. But, we'll see who's complaining come the summer festivals.

Unfortunately, the pun-tastic "Myth Takes" stumbles in more structured territory; the glam stomp of "Yadnus" and purple funk-gone-wrong of "Sweet Life" - rather like the Scissor Sisters turning apoplectic - are both a test of patience. After The Rapture's failed attempt to master pop craft last year, it leaves us to ponder the question of whether these elder statesmen of indie dance will ever find a way out of the groove hole.

Appropriately, we'll have the opportunity to see how the man that kicked it off back in 2002 tackles the challenge over the coming weeks, as James Murphy reconvenes LCD Soundsystem for a make-or-break second album. In the meantime, your record collection still only really needs a couple of Chk Chk Chk 12"s and that Out Hud album, but don't pass on the chance to see them live.

    by James Poletti