The Go! Team's diversity more effective
Published Oct. 18, 2005
Pounding electronic pianos, retro guitar riffs, clashing drums and a variety of instruments serve as the welcome into the world of The Go! Team.
This British dance-funk group has a diversity that rivals that of the United Nations, but one that is twice as effective.
Ian Parton, 30, brushed aside his career as a television documentary filmmaker ("Sleepwalkers Who Kill," "Tales of the Living Dead") to form the hodge-podge of British artists. Parton plays the guitar, harmonica and drums, while Jamie Bell plays bass. Fellow Englishman Sam Dook joins in with guitar, drums and banjo. Silke Steidinger of Germany plays a wide variety of auxiliary instruments, and Chi (Fukami Taylor) of Japan serves as the drummer. And, of course, there's MC Ninja, who takes care of The Go! Team's vocals.
The band's debut: Thunder, Lightning, Strike, combines the power of rock, the upbeat feel-good tone of dance music and the unmatched appeal of rapper Ninja's spunk.
At first, many of the songs appear to be synthetic dance music that sounds alike.
Four out of the 13 songs have count-offs in them, and every song has similar sounding vocals.
But wait, what's that? A harmonica? A banjo? Is that a recorder coming out of the speakers? Silke brings an awesome mix of instruments, giving each track its own unique sound. Every time it seems to get repetitive, a new instrument is introduced to grab the listener and pull them back in.
One of the star tracks of the album is "We Just Won't Be Defeated."
Ninja's cheers accompanied by horn instruments give the song a feeling of a high school football game.
"Junior Kickstart" sounds like a spy movie theme song with blaring horns, fast-paced drums and Parton's unique harmonica solo.
Another great track is "Get It Together." The song consists of an amazing synth beat, clangy guitar and recorder intro, leading into mallet percussion, banjo, whistles, shouting and finally a recorder/banjo duel throughout the song. Toward the end, the song spirals into all drums, guitar and scratching.
There are a few odd songs to the record. "Air Raid GTR," for example, is 39 seconds of some strange noise that cannot be of this earth.
The slow track "Hold YR Terror Close" is only piano and the scratchy recording of vocals, not like the grungy guitars and rapping on the rest of the album. Although this gives the listener some variety, they seem out of place.
It always is fun to hear bouncy, happy electronica music that doesn't stray into the unwanted realm of copy-and-paste techno.
The Go! Team is able to mix conventional instruments with typically unheard-of ones to create a sound that is unique.
Ninja's gleeful, spunky vocals are unlike any other, which makes Thunder, Lightning, Strike one of a kind.
