Review | !!! (Chk Chk Chk) at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'Mutant-disco monsters'

But much as I tried, I could never get to grips with the early output of !!! (usually styled out as 'Chk Chk Chk'), and I admit, I stopped paying attention.

However when I heard the Californians, long based in New York, were coming to The Wedge and they were now nine albums in, my curiosity was piqued.

The set draws heavily on their recent output, particularly latest album, Let it Be Blue, which means with only 12 songs on the setlist, large chunks of their discography are ignored.

For long-term fans this may be frustrating, but for Johnny-come-again-latelies like me, this is not a problem. And what we do get is superb.

They open with ...Blue's final track This is Pop 2 – sadly not an XTC cover – just drummer Chris Egan pounding away with frontman Nic Offer’s vocals, before the rest of the band kick in for their frenetic tribute to the joys of pop.

The band are super-tight, a rocking, percussion-heavy funk juggernaut. The rhythms are irresistible.

Offer admits at one point to not being sure what day of the week it is (or even what town he’s in – such is touring life), but even on a Tuesday night in Portsmouth he's dancing non-stop, prowling the crowd and throwing shapes like it's a Saturday night in the late ’70s at Studio 54.

Captivating as Offer is alone, it's when fellow lead vocalist Meah Pace joins him onstage that things go up an extra notch. Her powerhouse voice and stage presence moves the whole band into overdrive.

Their cover of REM's Man on The Moon is virtually unrecognisable from the original, transformed into a mutant-disco monster, and is none the worse for it. Offer wryly calls it their 'Smiths cover' afterwards.

The venue may only be half full, but those in attendance were vocal in their appreciation and would have happily taken more after the sole, if lengthy, encore.

I shall definitely be paying more attention in future. Now if you’ll excuse me, it seems I have a sizeable back catalogue to catch up on...