Along with The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, and Radio 4, !!! were one of New York City’s best gifts to dance floors during the 2000′s. After the revivalism of Joy Division’s moodier branch of the post-punk family tree at the turn of the century, the stage was set for its funkier, sexier cousin–the bough which forked out from the likes of Talking Heads and P.I.L. Some folks proclaimed !!!’s 2001 self-titled debut and its follow-up, 2004′s Louden Up Now, “dance-punk.” Others thought “post-punk” sufficed. Most didn’t really know quite how to slap an appellation on the band’s groove-heavy freak-outs but in the end, it didn’t matter: to hear !!! was to immediately understand what they were all about (and probably to love it, too).

Nic Offer and his crew were always more interested in edginess than their contemporaries, a trait that may have unfairly kept them in the shadows more than their peers, but they were likewise also more preoccupied with the primal energy of dance music in its myriad shades. “AM/FM,” the lead track from their fourth LP, Strange Weather, Isn’t It? (to be released August 24th courtesy of Warp), lays this idea out for everyone to hear. Within one song we hear a delayed synth riff and percussion layers plucked from the height of The Happy Mondays’ reign over the Madchester scene, an elastic bass line borrowed–in spirit–from the death disco of predecessors such as Delta 5 and Gang of Four, and cooed female vocal harmonies which evoke Giorgio Moroder and the Italo kids.

Where the bouillabaisse of inspiration is concerned, these influences make for a hearty stock. While “AM/FM” never gets as crazy as previous tracks such as “Hello? Is This Thing On?” or “Intensify,” it does deliver the same party-ready sensibilities and, just maybe, a slightly more mature approach to the songwriting craft than their first three albums.

Where does one classify a band like Los Angeles’ HEALTH, who are due to release their highly anticipated second full-length on September 8th via Lovepump United? Where in the generic taxonomy does the churning, burning groove of a track like “Die Slow” fall? If the shoegazers in Moose and Adorable had been privy to the much-improved dance music revival of the late ’00s, perhaps they would have beaten HEALTH to the punch on a track like this, but the fact remains that they didn’t. HEALTH has been blazing their own trail since their inception in 2005, and if “Die Slow” is a precursor to what awaits listeners on Get Color, it seems they have continued marching to the fucked up noise of their own, different drum.

“Die Slow” fades in to a stutter of digital delay, a “How Soon Is Now?” for a generation raised on Daft Punk and Girl Talk instead of Pet Shop Boys and Shop Assistants. It is a song with no brakes, and when the drums enter moments later, they do so with a wallop like Curve used to do–the drum beats deep and weighty. The vocals are that impenetrable slurry Slowdive did so well, a visitation from another realm, and although the prevailing tones are tetanus-laced shards, there are layers of ecstatic harmonies glimmering beneath. Is “Die Slow” a song to jump off a cliff to? To have E-fueled orgies to? To have bang around in your headphones on the subway ride home? Is it a love letter to 2009? Yes, indeed, my friends–and so much more.

On June 23rd, Brooklyn’s Friendly Fire Recordings will release the debut record from The Phenomenal Handclap Band, an assemblage of New York City bands which includes appearances from members of TV on the Radio, The Dap Kings, Oakley Hall, Diamond Nights, Calla, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (among others). Given this indie-heavy pedigree, perhaps the most surprising thing about the collective is how rump-shaking their music is. The party on a platter is helmed by DJs Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand, who ensure that the songs are engineered to move bodies.

As far as summer songs go, “15 to 20″ has all of your bases covered. Its layers of percussion, drums, and bass provide a fun, funky groove over which Lady Tigra (she of L’Trimm) lays down some schoolyard rhymes. Throw in some deep chiming bells straight out of the Futurama theme song, the occasional angular, distorted guitar, and, yes, even some handclaps, and the recipe is complete. “15 to 20″ is the sort of track you would expect to find playing at the out of control pool party scene in a raunchy teen comedy… and I mean that in a good way. It’s all about having a good time, getting down, and celebrating the fact that you won’t always be so young.

It’s been a while since Datarock self-released their full-length debut (the cheekily titled Datarock Datarock) in 2005. Since then, the track jacket-clad Norwegians found themselves major label U.S. distribution and have had their music featured in commercials by Apple and Coca-Cola, not to mention six separate video games. All of which means that Datarock’s sound, if not their name, is now recognized across the world.

So how have the intervening years and success changed the sound on their upcoming September 1st release, RED? If “True Stories” is an accurate barometer, the answer is not much–and that’s a good thing. Datarock is still kicking out their appealing, white boy inversion of Motown soul, replete with vivacious basslines, tweedling synthesizers, and Fredrik Saroea’s slightly raspy vocals.

“True Stories” is named after the Talking Heads song and movie of the same name, and provides one of the most unorthodox ideas for a musical homage I’ve ever encountered: all of the lyrics are song titles. To wit, the chorus begins “Don’t worry about the government / The democratic circus / Mommy, Daddy, you and I / Burning down the house.” To Datarock’s credit, this gimmick is maneuvered with an unostentatious hand and is likely to go unnoticed by many ears. The track even includes a subtle but well-placed patter of percussive instruments, perhaps as a further nod to the polyrhythmic tendencies of Byrne & Co.

In the end, it doesn’t matter at whose altar “True Stories” does its worshipping: it is infectious and positively rump-shaking in its own right.