The Go! Team’s debut album “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” defines music of this day and age. The hype behind this band’s debut release is well deserved after generous samples of their potential were shown in earlier EPs, this UK 6-piece consisting of three girls and three guys produce a creatively fused album that marks the era of a new generation of music.

The album covers various styles and changes in tempo throughout making it hard to define The Go! Team. This album can only be describes as a gentle mixture of funk, fuelled with rock, mixed with rolling drums and overlayed with various trumpets and addictive samples of other instruments. This album can only be likened to, or compared with something that of The Avalanches seminal release “Since I Left You”. The album’s originality will potentially lead a change musically in the UK away from the Britpop scene that was prevalent in earlier years, to genres that have yet to be defined.

The first impression you get from this album is that its fun. Fun enough to make you want to get up and dance around the house in your mum’s favourite underwear? Perhaps not. The opening track “Panther Dash” sets the scene for the album with swirling guitars and trumpets following onto the beautiful “Ladyflash”. “Junior Kickstart” is reminiscent of what the backing sound of a car chase from a 70’s film would sound like. “Huddle Formation” equally represents this bands potential and summarises the album as a band who just loves to get together and just play damn good music.

The songs itself feature various instruments from vocal harmonies with clapping to banjos to harmonicas behind rising and falling trumpets. The lyrics itself have somewhat taken a backseat in the album which doesn’t do much damage to the vibe that it’s trying to project. The reason why this album is so addictive can be put down to the tight melodies and the recording mix which brings out the various instruments, giving each a chance to shine in every song.

It is hard to find flaws in this album although some of the songs seem to fall in the “ordinary” category after several listens. The lyrics aren’t deep and meaningful but that was the band’s intention. They’ve focussed on producing music that can be enjoyed dancing or just relaxing and I think that it has achieved a happy medium in that respect.

The orchestration of The Go! Team have produced something that will catapult this fairly unknown band to great heights from now on and into the future. Do you like things a little different? Perhaps even from another planet or time? With a hint of chaos but never wavering in execution, The Go! Team’s debut album will be sure to get you dancing and grooving for the rest of the year.