The Go! Team: Thunder, Lightning, Strike : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Jump-ropers of the world, unite and take over. The Go! Team create the long-awaited fusion of Sonic Youth and the Spice Girls, a six-person cartoon-crazy funky bunch from the English town of Brighton. On their debut, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, they blend guitar rock, bubblegum funk, Charlie Brown piano, harmonica, horns, loads of samples and Sugar Hill-style femme rapping from MC Ninja. As you might surmise from their Speed Racer name, the Go! Team thrive on 1970s kiddie sunshine vibes, from the manic playground chant "Huddle Formation" to the S.W.A.T.-tastic horn blasts of "Junior Kickstart" to the moody somebody-come-and-play instrumental "Get It Together." And it's just thirty-five minutes long, which means you can listen while watching Scooby-Doo on mute. Thunder, Lightning, Strike was hailed as a pop masterpiece when it came out in the U.K. late last year, but clearing all the samples held up its U.S. release until now. Wait no longer.