[The New Classics is a reoccurring segment in which we examine our favorite indie releases that are bound to replace our parent’s “classic rock” stash hidden in the attic or the basement. These aren’t reviews, these are uneditied testimonies and opinions about why we love what we love. Can we get a witness?]

Artist: The Go! Team
Album:Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Released: 2004
Label: Memphis Industries

Words by Rick Moslen

The exclamation point in The Go! Team‘s name is essential for two reasons. First, if forgotten, you’ll refer to the pre-Bikini Kill band of the 80s and sound ridiculous in front of your friends. Secondly, if any band deserves exclamatory punctuation in their name, it’s The Go! Team. In fact, only an “!” is needed to describe Thunder, Lightning, Strike. It hit UK record stores in 2004, and there’s still no other band that sounds quite like them.

The Go! Team / Ladyflash
The Go! Team / Feelgood By Numbers
The Go! Team / Junior Kickstart
The Go! Team / Bottle Rocket

The band originated in guitarist Ian Parton’s parents’ kitchen. No, his poor Welsh mother didn’t cook dinner amongst hooligan musicians every night. This was technically Parton’s solo album. He crammed trumpeted samples through distortion pedals, and mixed in razor-knifed electric guitar riffs, and sprinkled cheerleader chants overtop dirty drums to record the perfect recipe of controlled yet ever-so-sweet madness.

Commencing with the high-speed traffic chase of “Panther Dash,” the album’s tracks taint your soul with this feeling of invincibility. Like, you can swagger down a sidewalk, push old ladies out of the way, steal a kitten or two, and act all Bitter-Sweet Symphony on the world when their music plays—but in a joyous sort of way. If casinos were multi-colored sanctuaries where people actually won money and left with half of their student loans paid off, “Power is On,” “Bottle Rocket,” “Huddle Formation,” and other Thunder, Lightning, Strike anthems would ring through the slot machines after every win. “Feel good” music never had a better delegate.

The album garnered top spots on most “Best Album” lists in 2004 and received a Mercury Prize nomination, which, I guess, is a pretty big deal in the UK (Antony and the Johnsons won that year…BOR-ING!). As interest in Parton’s kitchen recordings grew, he turned down show offer after show offer—really his only option since no band existed. He combed through some fab Brighton dance parties (or maybe he just posted Craigslist ads) and recruited his live band: a female rapper named Ninja and a hodgepodge of dudes and chicks from both England and Japan armed with a cavern of instruments. This lineup had the daunting task of recreating the album’s cornucopia of sounds live—in front of thousands of people. Yikes.

The end result wasn’t bad—at all. The live rapping imitates rhymes probably heard in a middle school playground—more innocent and playful than, say, Jay-Z. The album’s trash drumming is expanded live with the help of two drummers and triggered samples, while the Sonic Youthy guitars surprisingly compliment the glockenspiel and keyboard tinkering. Doesn’t this sound delightful? In fact, if I had the option of joining any current live band, my first choice may be the Go! Team.

Come to think of it…if you’re not a member of the Go! Team, please quit reading, as I have some business to take care of with my future bandmates:

Go! Team,

What’s up, guys? If you’re reading this, and you need an extra member, no joke—call me. What I lack in street cred, I make up for in skill…DANCE skills. I’ll dance while shaking a tambourine. I’ll practice my guitar-playing/dance combo skills before tour and have some killer moves ready. Worse comes to worse, I’ll carry Ninja’s luggage…that’s cool. You guys look like you’re having way too much fun.

Not only is Thunder, Lightning, Strike probably one of the most creative albums the past ten years, but your later records are focused, a bit noisier, and capitalize even more on that killer live sound. Plus I assume you offer a benefits package, along with a 401K and competitive salary, so…seriously…let’s talk.

Your friend,
Ricky

If the choosing of Go! Team members is anything like the choosing basketball teams in gym class, I’ll be waiting awhile, so buy the US version of this album in the meantime, (the two bonus tracks brighten your Go! Team experience even more). When the hot-air balloon flies off in the distance during “Everyone’s a V.I.P. to Someone” (or at least that’s my mental image), you’ll have a smile on your face and a new groove in your step.

The goth chick blasting Robert Smith covers of Joy Division songs gave this a 0/10. The older dude ripping Van Halen solos for hours at Guitar Centers gave it a 1/10—a 1 because he thought Ninja sounded “hot.” Let’s call it a 9.524.

Filed under: New Classics, Not Blake, Jim, or Brendan