The Go! Team / Proof of Youth - SP750

A six-piece from Brighton, England, The Go! Team and their brilliant, critically-lauded debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, lit 2005 a-fire with a fast and furious mix of ‘60s girl groups, ‘70s car chase TV themes, ‘80s lady MCs, ‘90s guitar squalor, and an incendiary live show. Nominated for the UK’s prestigious Mercury Prize, Thunder, Lightning, Strike landed on 2005 year-end lists in Rolling Stone, Blender and Spin, with Time Magazine calling it one of “5 CDs You Should Not Miss” in early 2006. The Go! Team’s subsequent American tours included incredible performances at Coachella and Lollapalooza, and opening for the likes of The Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth. Whereas Thunder, Lightning, Strike was sample-heavy, Proof of Youth was recorded by all six Go! Team members, and produced by The Go! Team and Gareth Parton, resulting in a wider sound that is still unmistakably their own. The album is another treble-heavy adventure in audio, bombing melodies into the stone-age with its needle-in-the-red, anti-production approach and lurching from bubblegum pop to white noise in a heartbeat. And this time, it’s not just the band—they’ve invited some of their friends to the party, including hip-hop luminary Chuck D of Public Enemy, the original Double Dutch Divas, Maryland’s pint-sized Rapper’s Delight Club, Marina from Bonde Do Role, Amsterdam’s Solex, and Washington, DC’s Frederick Douglas All Star Cheer Team. Your 2007 and 2008 is about to be a whole lot more fun.

Watch the video for Grip Like a Vice here!

One note on the Proof of Youth LP: the vinyl of this release will NOT include a coupon for download of the album as mp3s. We were prohibited from doing so, and we’re sorry.

SP750

Release date: September 11, 2007

NPR review of Proof of Youth!

Released: September 11, 2007

The Go! Team / Thunder, Lightning, Strike - RS-CK96503

The Go! Team might just have one of the catchiest albums of 2005 with “Thunder Lightning Strike.” When it first came out, definitely the catchiest of last summer. Despite the current wave of nu-Manchester or new wave bands that are popping up, this Brighton band dips into a different musical well.

Their unique sound is made up of sunshine funk, big beats, peculiar samples, adrenaline-pumping rock, TV theme songs and the occasional cheerleader. (Yes, cheerleader) It opens with a charged trashcan drum song, “Panther Dash,” before slipping into a series of funky, blippy grooves.

Those sounds run through the entire album, alternating between hyperkinetic rock’n’roll and colorful electronic big beats. It’s all jammed with harmonica, horn, what sounds like a sitar, and hip-hop flourishes. And whatever style it is, it’s danceable from beginning to end, densely packed with fun beats and wild rhythms.

In fact, it’s hard to find a part of “Thunder Lightning Strike” that isn’t packed with at least two kinds of sound at once. In fact, it sounds like they gathered every single instrument they could get their hands on, dosed them with Red Bull and planted them in front of a bunch of 1970s TV shows. That retro sound isn’t a gimmick, however — even if you don’t have nostalgia for that TV era, the sound is wildly entertaining.

Their hyperdrivin’ guitars might sound repetitive, if they didn’t have lots of samples and extra instrumentation thrown in, including blaring trumpets and some explosive drums. And the flourishes range from glockenspiel to horns to harmonica. Without them, the music would seem a little too bare and ordinary.

And cheerleaders, of course — there are some rousing cheerleader chants, exploding from the foot-stomping “Huddle Formation” and playfully chaotic “The Power Is On.” It sounds like a football-game-turned-rave, with just the right amount of energetic messiness.

Imagine the Propellerheads on a sunny day, and you have the basic sound of the Go! Team. “Thunder Lightning Strike” — perfect for a party or a wild night.

Released: July 10, 2007