Album of the Week

The Go Team!

Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Columbia; 2004)

***

RATED 5 of 10: Brighton is England’s playground. The southern beachfront town is home to huge dance festivals and a big, brassy sound represented best by local hero, Fat Boy Slim. The Go! Team mixes this upbeat aesthetic with the 1970s and, uh, cheerleaders in Thunder, Lightning, Strike. This is their first album, and shows a wide use of divergent sample sources: soul, hip-hop, movie clips. “Ladyflash” mixes a little bit of Diana Ross’s distinct vocals from “Come See About Me” with old skool hip-hop, break beats and what may be kids jumping rope. Many tracks feature the blaring horns, tambourines and high-treble recordings found in soundtracks from the ‘70s.  “Junior Kickstart” could easily replace the music for chase scenes in “Charley’s Angels” or “Starsky and Hutch.” But perhaps the most interesting (and strange) samples in Thunder, Lightning, Strike are the sing-song chants of cheerleaders, found prominently in “We Just Won’t Be Defeated” and “Huddle Formation.” The closing song, “Everyone’s a V.I.P. to Someone,” slows the tempo a bit and is reminiscent of a sappy country montage. Sitting down and listening to this could get old fast, but it’s great background music for dance parties.  – by Ben Lowenthal

All albums reviewed in this space are available at Maui’s only record store, Requests (10 N. Market St., Wailuku, 808-244-9315)

A version of this article appeared in print on April 7, 2011, on page 14 of MauiTime (volume 14, issue 42)