Indie kids gotta dance too.
LCD Soundsystem’s retirement leaves the indie dance rock throne unoccupied and both !!! and Ra Ra Riot are two suitable contenders for the spot. Both groups keep the party going and the neighbors awake with driving dance beats, synthesizers and alternative rock melodies. If you want to express yourself in the form of dance and Cowfish’s top 40 radio playlist isn’t cutting it for you, sweat it all out at the WOW Hall on Wednesday night.
!!! have the most versatile and creative ways to pronounce their band name. Pretty much any onomatopoeia phrase of threes work, though “Chk Chk Chk” is the most common. The New York City via Sacramento sextet has been putting out the vibes since the mid 1990s but it wasn’t until their 2003 single, “Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard,” when they began to emerge in the dance scene.
The nine minute epic is a combination of !!!’s humor with a politically-charged agenda: “Here’s a message to you, Rudy and you, Sir Mr. Bloomberg/ And the rest of you ties-too-tight dudes/ Y’all could learn a lesson, by losing inhibitions/ Yeah, losing yourself in the music.” The track is steered by a galvanizing bass groove and it could have easily landed its way on LCD’s now classic album, “Sound of Silver“ and no one could protest.
Formed in 2006, the members of Ra Ra Riot met while attending Syracuse University. The group mixes dance pop with baroque-style string arrangements and singer Wes Miles can flow from a Morrissey croon to an Afro pop jingle a la The Dirty Projectors. When they began, Ra Ra Riot sounded like what would happen if Vampire Weekend’s drummer was allowed to let loose and lead the charge.
Their earlier albums were accompanied by cellist Alexandra Lawn’s sweet compositions but she departed the group in early 2012. Instead of replacing her, Ra Ra Riot moved on and traded baroque for a more heavy electronic pop sound. Their most recent record “Beta Love,” which came out last January, is commandeered by edgier synthesizers and was heavily influenced by science fiction mastermind William Gibson.
Beyond their style of music, !!! and Ra Ra Riot share much more in common. They’re musical refuges living in the city that never sleeps, they owe James Murphy a pony for his colossal influence and both groups have suffered the loss of a member due to a freak accident (!!!’s original drummer Mikel Gius was struck by a vehicle in 2005 and Ra Ra Riot’s founding drummer John Ryan Pike drowned after a show in 2007). Even though both groups experienced tragedy, their love for the marriage between dance and music prevails. With summer’s sun dwindling down, a night out on the dance floor would serve as a crowning cathartic cap for the season.
!!! and Ra Ra Riot play WOW Hall 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4; $15 adv., $18 door.