The Go! Team

Item: Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Author: Christopher Thomas

Thunder, Lightning, Strike

(2004)

Reviewed by Christopher Thomas

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label Columbia Records / Memphis IndustriesDecapolisDecember 2005

dance rock electronica funk indie rock

If you fight crime, find your theme song here!

One night I had a dream that I was fighting crime. I was dressed in a sharp powder blue leisure suit with thick mutton chop sideburns and a head full of locks so curly that Richard Simmons would be jealous. Fighting by my side were Eric Estrada, Kojak, B.J. and the Bear, and all of Charlie's Angels. We had a job to do, and that job was to kick crime's butt and look good doing it. Everywhere we went, music followed; the groovinest, crime-fightin'-est music to ever fill our ears. And do you know what that music was called? It was called The Go! Team.

Thunder, Lightning, Strike, the first full-length release by Britain's The Go! Team sees its release here in the States after making a splash in the U.K. last year. Six members, including two drummers (yeah, it just keeps getting more awesome, I know), fill out this action-funk-rock-cheer-anthem outfit, and they bring it. In every way. Okay, so maybe having your band sound like a remix of every 70s action show theme song may seem a bit kitschy, and okay, it is kind of absurd, but there's just no denying the fact that The Go! Team makes you want to dance around and shake your money maker. But don't dismiss them as just some novelty act, because why the sound may indeed be novel, there is genuine skill in what they do. An amalgam of guitars, drums, samples, singing, and rapping and bona fide funk this good just couldn't be assembled by record label boardroom drones. These songs are fully explored compositions, creations in the sincerest form.

Some songs, of course, are better than others, and the few tracks that take a more laid back approach are easily the weakest of the batch. However, even the weakest songs still offer a great deal of fun and creativity ("Friendship Update," the first half of "Get It Together"). The most enjoyable tracks on Thunder, Lightning, Strike are "The Power is On" and "Junior Kickstart," which are both full of energy and rockin' grooves. It's also fairly safe to say that any song based around the cheers of a cheerleading squad (and on this record there are several) is probably going to be an enjoyable listen.

This album, as you can certainly tell by this point in the review, is a good time. And the critics (mainstream and indie alike) enjoy it so much, it might even get you some scene cred.