Thunder Lightning, Strike

The Go! Team earn their exclamation point. Their debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, is a refreshing blast of Day-Glo bubble-dance-pop that could crack a smile on even the most frozen of faces. The sound of the record is a slap in the face to audio purists; it sounds like it was recorded on a truck stop-quality cassette in a very damp, crowded basement. The feel of the record is like a slap on the arse of complacent music-makers everywhere. A wake-up call to arms; a "can you top this?" The group whips up a clattering, exhilarating collage of Northern soul horns meshed with sampledelic beats, plangent harmonica, lyrical piano melodies that bring Martin Duffy's work with Felt to mind (especially on "Feelgood By Numbers"), hard-charging '70s police drama funk, old-school hip-hop, and sincere indie rock. Everyone from Marley Marl to Sonic Youth is roped in to be borrowed from. It's all thrown together with a glorious sense of what works and what doesn't. There isn't a single misstep on the record and it is hard to pick favorites because every song is so blindingly good.