THE GO! TEAM – ROLLING BLACKOUTS
Go! Team is right: on their third album this U.K. six-piece earn their exclamation marks. The opening T.O.R.N.A.D.O. sets the tone of raucous, sample-based garage pop – dominating horn lines bearing down over woolly break beats, with the endearing throw-downs of singer/rapper Ninja somehow finding space in between. The next several tracks continue in much the same vein, albeit increasingly cute; myriad layers of funky parts are blended by a friendly, distorted warmth, blurring the distinction between live and sampled parts – an aesthetic that brings to mind Melbourne’s pathological samplers, The Avalanches. By the time the peppy By Nothing Day has barreled past we are well and truly gasping for air. The pace and intensity of Rolling Blackouts, although impressive, is relentless – it keeps the listener at arms length, as if trying to get a head start in some zany race. In that sense Super Triangle, one of two relatively calm instrumental interludes, comes at the perfect time. Cool, Air-esque synths and acoustic guitars wash over us like a friendly cup of water mid-marathon, but after less than two minutes the Team are keen to keep running, blasting their way through another six tracks with barely a moment’s pause. All the boxes are ticked to certify The Go! Team as an undeniably cool band, they just need to lay off the red cordial…!!!
***
