The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike

Ever since the post-White Stripes/Strokes "indie-band picks up guitar, learns chords, records album, gets signed" influx that fully commenced in early 2002, it has become increasingly overwhelming for the average music fan to sift through the shit and find the good stuff. Every week, the pundits at NME, SPIN and various online blogs praise another band as the second coming of Jesus Christ. The majority of band spawning takes place in the U.K., a place with more musically adept people than most anywhere in the world. This said, the Brits do have a known tendency for deeming bands "ace" without really evaluating their impact relative to other acts that pervade the scene at the moment. However, one band that is ridiculously fucking ace is Brighton's own, The Go! Team.

The first time I listened to Thunder, Lightning, Strike, I was very taken aback, if not rather overwhelmed. As their name would suggest, each member of the band (which boasts two drummers) plays an equally important role in forming a "team" of musicians who create a sound capable of galvanizing the most depressed, lazy human being on earth. Fusing a combination of funky 70's jams, old-school hip-hop, garage-rock guitar riffs, and cheerleader chants, The Go! Team produce a sound that is unique and incredibly refreshing.

"Ladyflash", the record's second track, opens with a space-rock melody that leads into a Maxine Nightingale style chorus, mixes in some hip-hop beats, then repeats. On popular single, “Huddle Formation”, the bands uses simple electronic rhythm and a subtly powerful bass line as the foundation for an amazing song rife with handclaps, chanting and hip-hop interjections. This lack of homogony from track to track is what makes The Go! Team so sensational: the final song on the album is carried by tradition bluegrass guitar picking and a whining harmonica. You won’t find this kind of brilliance and variety from a band like Razorlight.

We need more bands like The Go! Team and we need them now: musicians that are fully willing to go against the grain, explore new sound, and, in the case of the Brighton six-piece, mash it all together. Look for their sophomore effort to hit shelves soon.

Rating: 8.5/10