(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
The Go! Team, the sextet formed by English wunderkind Ian Parton, was
introduced by the catchy singles
Get It Together (2002), a propulsive flute-driven instrumental,
and Junior Kickstart (2003),
that concocted sample-heavy party music a` la
Avalanches.
Thunder Lightning Strike (Memphis Industries, 2004) sounds
cynical and derivative, but in their case that is precisely the point.
Theirs is semiotic music.
They assemble sounds in order to reproduce signs of the
contemporary civilization, such as
easy-listening muzak (Friendship Update),
Tamla soul mutating into hip-hop (Ladyflash),
Fleshtones-style rhythm'n'surf (the instrumental Panther Dash),
tv themes (the anthemic We Just Won't Be Defeated, the hyper-driven Junior Kickstart),
spaghetti-western soundtracks (Everyone's A VIP To Someone),
hip-hop (Bottle Rocket),
effervescent tribal jazzy gospel (The Power Is On, that matches the verve of the early singles).
They equip this organized debris with rhythmic maelstroms, dense (albeit
amateurish) arrangements,
exuberant vocal harmonies (often contrasting cute samples with Nigerian vocalist Ninja's free-form raps and chants) and magniloquent melodies.
If the original songs used as blueprints were simple pop hits, in the hands
of the Go Team they become the emotional equivalent of national anthems.
Proof Of Youth (Sub Pop, 2007) was still hyper-arranged in an
amateurish manner (with a positive effect on the overall jovial atmosphere),
a grotesque pastiche of Memphis-soul horns and Ennio Morricone soundtracks,
but it diverged from its predecessor in five notable ways. First of all,
a stronger hip-hop influence. Secondly, a greater reliance on
live instruments instead of samples.
Thirdly, a more prominent role for the
vocals, both because of Ninja's artistic growth and because of a plethora
of guests.
Fourth, a relentless pace,
Fifth, a neurotic/punkish flavor typical of the new wave of the 1970s.
Bonde do Role's Brazilian vocalist's Marina Vello "Ribatski" rides the driving, visceral horns-heavy rhythm'n'blues of Titanic Vandalism.
Vocals that alternate between twee-pop and riot-grrrls propel
Fake ID over a Rolling Stone-ian boogie rhythm.
The main refrain of The Wrath of Marcie echoes bubblegum hits of the late 1960s (J. Geils Band) amid a maelstrom of horns that in turn echo soul hits of the early 1960s).
Public Enemy's Chuck D raps in the torrential Flashlight Fight (who horn theme evoke tv soundtracks of the 1960s).
Elisabeth Esselink croons the pop ballad I Never Needed It Now So Much.
The best vocal mutations take place in Universal Speech, that echoes the bickering harmonies of the Spice Girls against an anthemic backdrop of soaring keyboard refrains and thick percussions.
However, the vocals still take a back seat to the production. The album's
standouts is the
exuberant syncopated polyrhythmic merry-go-round of Grip Like A Vice (with raps from Cosmic Force's Lisa Lee and Funky 4+1's Sha Rock, and soaring organ theme).
The best post-modernist revision,
Doing it Right, boasts infectious dual female vocals (Ninja and new guitarist Kaori Tsuchida) against an epically chaotic assembly of instruments (a` la Phil Spector's "wall of sound") and a juvenile enthusiasm a` la Tamla Motown.
The album closes with the instrumental Patricia's Moving Picture, a
hodgepodge of melodies and arrangements from the muzak of the past but at a rhythm twice faster than any orchestra could handle.
The star-studded
Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries, 2011) was a much more eclectic
work, lifting off with the most obvious dance ditty
(T.O.R.N.A.D.O.) but then traveling through a complex cosmos of
stylistic hybrids. It notably increased the doses of
romantic pop thanks to Ready to Go Steady (with Lispector doing her best imitation of French eye-ye girl Francoise Hardy),
Secretary Song (with Deerhoof's Satomi Matsuzaki unraveling a childish nursery rhyme)
and Buy Nothing Day
(with Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino riding gleefully over a
Phil Spector-ians "wall of sound").
All in all, a carefree ride through party music of the ages.
Sam Dook formed Cuz with Minutemen’s Mike Watt that released
Tamatebako (2014).
Parton reformed Go Team for The Scene Between (2015)
but with neither Ninja nor Kaori Tsuchida. Parton didn't sing and instead hired
a cast of worthy vocalists.
The band abandoned any pretense of multi-culturality and plunderphonics to focus on catchy pop refrains, yielding the
stately What D'You Say (sung by Brazilian singer-songwriter Samira Winter), the
African-tinged choral singalong The Art of Getting By (featuring the London Africa Gospel Choir),
the dreamy mid-tempo ballad Did You Know? (Chinese singer Shi Lu) and the
punk-pop exuberance of Catch me on the Rebound (French singer Glockabelle).
This version of Go Team was closer to the
New Pornographers, Minus 5 and Apples In Stereo, and occasionally ventured into the
twee-pop of Saint Etienne.
Ninja returned for Semicircle (2018) and the sound changed again:
armed with
horns and strings, they veered towards a propulsive and bombastic blend of funk and bubblegum-pop, best represented by the choral cheerleader-style singalong Mayday (featuring the Detroit Youth Choir),
by the frenzied funk-soul fanfare All the Way Live (a glorious throwback to the 1960s, again with the same choir),
and by the choral, marching-band dance Semicircle Song (which also includes glockenspiel and theremin).
The album overflows with ideas, from the
thunderous Hey (Julie Margat on vocals) to
the anthemic flute-driven and western-tinged instrumental Chico's Radical Decade, but
unfortunately half of the songs are disposable, and
Ninja's hip-hop number She’s Got Guns is definitely not a highlight.
Get Up Sequences Part One (2021), their worst album yet,
was perhaps meant as a kaleidoscopic display of their various styles, but
ended up revealing instead the limitations through
lame second-rate pop melodies like in A Bee Without its Sting (sung by teenager Jessie Miller),
half-baked hip-hop novelties like Cookie Scene (rapped by Indigo Yaj),
the parodic disco-funk of Pow,
and confused pretentious orchestrations like in Let the Seasons Work
In the end, the only track to save is the tex-mex instrumental Tame the Great Plains.
Even the choice of vocalists didn't sound particularly bright on the sequel,
Get Up Sequences Part Two (2023).
Hilarie Bratset of Apples in Stereo in Sock It to Me,
Japanese singer Kokubo Chisato in Going Nowhere,
and Indigo Yaj in Divebomb
sound lazy and demotivated, as if they were invited at the last minute and were reading the lyrics.
Whammy-O is another reminder of how badly Ninja's rap has aged, and she does better in standout Gemini only because of the propulsive quasi-Caribbean keyboards and drum-machine.
Also notable is the Star Feminine Band (an all-girl group from West Africa's nation Benin) shouting the careening Look Away Look Away over a vintage Farfisa organ.
Otherwise, the best that the album can offer is
the sweet twee-pop Stay and Ask Me in a Different Way
and the syncopated soul ballad Getting to Know, neither ranking among their best.
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