The Go! Team can only be described as indescribable. A motley crew with a motley sound, their first release, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, only continues the streak of British bands staking their claim in music.
Following the trends of Franz Ferdinand and rapper M.I.A., The Go! Team has striven to make a name for itself in originality, providing an answer to the pop monster that has ruled the contemporary music scene.
Although their album was released in September 2005, The Go! Team is already critically acclaimed and has had a following here in the United States since late 2004.
The Go! Team is band member Ian Parton's brainchild; Parton put out an indie EP in 2002, created with random people recording different parts and mixed on a computer. Parton eventually recruited a live group that became The Go! Team. Six members came together: Parton on guitar, harmonica and drums; Sam Dook on guitar, drums and banjo; Jamie Bell on bass; Chi on drums; Silke who plays everything; and Ninja, the group's female MC.
Three men, three women and a huge noise. Basically, The Go! Team is a band comprised of people who would have typically never been in a band together.
Following that was a supporting gig for the Swedish leg of the Franz Ferdinand tour in June 2004, a critically acclaimed performance at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and an American record deal. Success was quick, but the band certainly deserves the attention it has received.
Thunder, Lightning, Strike is just an unconventional blend of music through the decades: Jackson Five-esque Motown, Velvet Underground, '80s TV pop a la Speed Racer, Sonic Youth and early '90s hip-hop. It does not stop to fall into any one genre — the sound is that edgy.
Today, The Go! Team is comparable to Belle & Sebastian on speed, Fat Boy Slim mixing Sesame Street with cheerleader pop, or the love child of the New Pornographers and Jem & The Holograms.
Complex yet thoughtful, Thunder, Lightning, Strike is a bright and ebullient cacophony, never straining to be pained or pensive. The music has a mind of its own and takes off on tangents; it will go one place, then find one sound it has made and go from there. If incongruous, it is intriguing, never boring, never harsh and certainly never over-produced.
MC Ninja is really a shining star, her raps pumping the music up without distracting. Many of the songs function with a lack of true lyrical style, but when Ninja speaks up, you better listen, because it will be sensational. The guitars are noisy but well thought out, the horns make the songs catchy and smooth over the sound and the samples are not clichéd or overused.
Opening the album, "Panther Dash" is a high-energy, head-bouncing piece. Guitar-driven, the riffs are catchy but not annoying, and the harmonica adds a hook, a welcome layer in a song that has no vocals, but does not need them.
The second song, "Ladyflash," throws you from an Asian sound to a string sound, reminiscent of late Beatles. But before you get settled, a Motown song comes up, followed by hip-hop worthy of double-dutch in the early '90s. The song flows without being jointed.
Following that is another shocking sound in "Feelgood by Numbers." It sounds like Charlie Brown went rock.
Other great numbers include "Junior Kickstart," which sounds like Chicago infused with hip-hop or the song "Vehicle" by The Ides of March. "Bottle Rocket" has surfer-guitar layered with horns and the funky hip-hop Ninja provides. The last song, cleverly entitled "Everybody's a VIP to Somebody" starts off with a banjo. It is a shock, but then again, most of the album is. Thunder, Lightning, Strike sounds like no album before it, and that is its charm. Every seeming sidestep is completely deliberate. Such is the genius of The Go! Team.
It may be trite to describe a band as original, but this band truly lives up to the ideal of a fresh sound. Trite would be against its nature. The Go! Team currently lives on the indie scene, but could readily find a place in pop or dance or hip-hop, because it is just that diverse. Parton, however, says they are happy on the "fringe." In fact, the band turned down a potential McDonald's ad featuring their music. McDonald's was lovin' this band, but with its infectious sound, who wouldn't?
Grade: A
