Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievably, better than the first!, 7 Aug 2007
While The Go! Team released their debut album, Thunder Lightning Strike on tiny indie Memphis Industries back in 2004 it wasn't until the single Ladyflash was everwhere in 2005/6 that i finally took the opportunity to check them out, and boy was i glad i did. This was the band of my dreams, mixing old school electro, cheerleading chants, Sonic Youth discordance, C86 cutie and tv cop show soundtracks, it was the kind of record you actually listened to whilst you danced.
Baring in mind how much i loved the record, it was still a huge suprise when i finally saw them live, this was the album to the power of ten, the guitars were ear shredding, the beats in yer face (two drummers!)and it was all topped off with front-woman Ninja who's old-skool call and response was so out of place at an 'indie' gig it couldn't help make you grin from ear to ear. Leaving the gig i couldn't help but imagine how great the next album could sound.
And here it is, and i have to say it's surpassed my wildest expectations. First single, 'Grip Like A Vice' is the most punk rock 'comeback' single i've heard for ages, 'Doing it Right' is already a live favourite and they've nailed it here, Fake ID reminds me of The Pastels, but The Pastels never sounded this melodic or urgent. The Wrath Of Marcie is the most joyful track The Go! Team have done yet while Keys To City is the best track they've done period (can't wait to hear this one live...)
With Proof Of Youth, The Go! Team have walked back into the stadium and knocked the ball clean out of the ground, god i love this band.
|
|
|
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All right, do it right!, 11 Sep 2007
If the Go! Team's debut "Thunder Lightning Strike!" was a cheerleading squad on acid, then their second is the same squad taking over a club.
And "Proof of Youth" features this deliciously raucous, wild-sounding Brighton band splashing new sounds over their music. The quieter songs don't quite fit their sound as well, but fortunately most of the album is rollicking colourful rock'n'roll and quirky rap-pop, still fresh and fun.
"The blast from the past, superb in every word/Soupest female rapper, yes the best you heard... To you!/So what you wanna do?" It's a bit self-absorbed, but who cares? The first song -- and lead single -- is a frenetically-drummed, funky dance tune with their trademarked acid-funk-cheerleading-rock style. It'll make you dance, whether you like it or not.
It also sets the tone for the album, with loads of rollicking indiepop full of emphatic raps you can barely make out. Lots of blaring horns, schizophrenic synth, shimmering melodica, tinkly edges, wild riffs and bouncy, expansive melodies that are dizzying to listen to. The driving rock and powerpop hurtle you toward the finish line, the quirky, playful "Patricia's Moving Picture."
But the Go! Team also tries out some quieter songs -- "I Never Needed It Now So Much" is a straightforward indiepop tune with some wonky keyboard. And "My World" is a bit of a shock, with just a layer of keyboard over an acoustic instrumental. It's a letdown when it starts, and a shock when it switches over to the jumbled festival sound of "Titanic Vandalism."
Basically the Go! Team have much the same sound as before -- rap-funk-psychrock-pop as played by alien cheerleaders, and played with the same kind of wild enthusiasm. And to keep listeners astounded, "Proof of Life" just tries a few new things, polishes the edges, and tries for a more organic sound with fewer samples.
Okay, I didn't really like the quiet songs -- they didn't sound like the Go! Team, and didn't possess that volcanic energy. But all the other songs show why I adore this band: playfully colourful funky-pop, or wild, driving indie-rock/rap. The instrumentation is a dense tangle of roiling electric guitars, gentle acoustics, crazy smashing drums, xylophone chimes, a brassy array of trumpets, and waves and swooshes of colourful synth. Occasionally you can even hear a harmonica in there.
And the samples? They're still there, but they're more interwoven into the melodies -- you can hear some sirens somewhere in the mix, alongside Ninja's powerful raps, Solex's pop tune, Kaori Tsuchida's girlish chants ("DO it! DO it! ALL RIGHT!") and Chuck D in the penultimate track. Bless him, his raps blend seamlessly into the storm of crazy brass'n'riffs.
"Proof of Life" could have benefited by snipping a couple of songs, but the resulting sophomore album is still a gloriously energetic, joyous mishmash of styles and sounds. All right, do it all right!
|
|
|
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
doitalrightht, 5 Sep 2007
do it!
do it!
alright!
why this album works: it's like eating sugar when you were 7. a huge rush flows through your body until you fall over, frothing at the mouth and crying. being a dumb kid, of course, you keep coming back, eating more and more sugar until your teeth turn to dust. imagine that scenario without the negative bits. that's this album, and that's why it's so great.
sugarsgeateateatme.!!.,1
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![Thunder, Lightning, Strike [New Edition With Two Extra Tracks]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6198TTXRRBL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ MGMT
~ Vampire Weekend
~ Bat for Lashes
~ Hot Chip
See all 11 tracks on this disc
![Thunder, Lightning, Strike [New Edition With Two Extra Tracks]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6198TTXRRBL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home