Comparison is the new Explanation, or so it goes in the world of pop culture 2000 and beyond. To achieve Good (i.e. approval) resemblance to two or more variables already deemed Good is the only requirement. When factoring in a new band to one's already keen musical sense, one merely needs to ask themself, "Do I like this Good thing and that Good thing?" If the answer is affirmative, then the new band is a must have. It's so simple and easy to use too!

     In realtime, the band has just concluded a US tour, wrapping things up with a show at New York's Webster Hall and is currently making a go! of the rest of the free world with shows in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and a handful of England's famous football towns. Ian and live show visualist Bob Jaroc have done a not-so-archeological documentary on the band and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) is working on a Go! Team remix.

     Not a bad turn of events when you consider Parton's promotional platform, "I ain't much of a self promoter so I just let the music go out there and see what happens. It had pretty good reviews right from the start and because we're on a small label with no advertising budget it was a gradual word of mouth thing, which is what I love. I kinda think if something's alright people will hear it somehow." With a year in between the record's release in two national markets, a considerable amount of talking, blogging, and downloading occurred. The delay of the stateside release provided time for two additional songs to see inclusion on the record and, much to Parton's surprise, the whole thing was met with a grand reception. "It seems to have struck a chord. It has kinda happened by accident, we certainly didn't set out to break America, but the music traveled on its own."

     This brings us back to the equation. As word moved swiftly across the internet after the UK release, many American music fans were first introduced to the Go! Team by reading what kind of head on collision would have to occur to otherwise produce similar noise. The big deal behind this music, however, is not in the story, but rather the craft. With many of the songs completed in Parton's bedroom before he even had band mates, the over-attenuated, full sound is the result of his use of tweaked samples and live instrumentation. "I've always been interested in how you can change a sample by playing different chords and other instruments over the top. I never wanted to just loop a few seconds from someone else's song and call it mine, for its all about the contrast between stuff- how you can fuck around with it to give new life to something forgotten."

     For these "forgotten somethings," Ian turned to his youth. "There is no single band that I looked to for inspiration, it was more a bunch of things that I wanted to ram together and hopefully make something new- all of the things I have loved for years like 60's girl groups, Sonic Youth, car chase horns, double dutch chants, Bollywood." The source material serves as a pretty good description of the Go! Team's music: Infectiously upbeat, while purposely a bit rough around the edges. Experiencing one of their songs is like being caught in a beat driven chain of shuttle launches.

     The beauty of these tunes is the absolute absence of repetition. With each head nodding, drum pounding number copious amounts of versatility are put on display. The Go! Team is not just playing over jangled samples; some songs are closer to old school hip-hop while others pit horns against guitar in a bout for supremacy. Effects, chants, and cheers take the listener through scumbag cop chases, jump rope sessions, and halftime shows all the while keeping everything sounding like a party. Vocal samples are routed around the rhyme stylings of Ninja, the exuberant female MC whose stage presence brings an ounce of interactivity to the Team. With an adaptable delivery that switches from the party folly on “Bottle Rocket” to the explosive, way too short bars of “The Power is On,” Ninja’s fit to this music is pretty much like any other element of it, unexpected but effective all the same.

     “It’s all about trial and error,” Parton says on the subject of writing Go! Team songs. “Remembering samples and melodies I’ve written and sticking them next to each other until it feels like a song. When the song is locked down I stick a whole bunch of live instruments over the top.” The band was given co-production credits for Thunder, Lightning, Strike alongside Ian’s brother, ever busy producer Garth Parton. “It’s actually me in the mixing stage,” Ian continues. “I have a pretty strong idea what it should sound like, which basically involves fucking everything up- distorting it, compressing it, slamming it to tape. There’s never anyone breathing down our neck to clean it up, in fact Memphis Industries (the band’s UK label) actually once told me to go back and make it dirtier.”

     As media coverage continues and the band is projected into spotlights of varying degrees and difficulties, they keep their effer-lauded live show rolling across the globe. With a setup that includes two drum kits, constant instrument swapping, and Ninja’s crowd- including antics, it is hard to stay still at a Go! Team show for very long. The band is still evolving their show, featuring the inclusion of background singers and the occasional gaggle of neighborhood kids at select gigs. As the record may imply, there is never a dull moment with the Go! Team.

     The touring year will bring the Brighton crew back to the states in the spring, which is terrain that Parton seems to enjoy, “It’s pretty surreal,” he explains, “You wake up in a totally alien place every morning and it’s kind of addictive because you don’t know what the next gig will be like. Everything’s an unknown. US crowds are good and they whoop more.”

-Joel Armato 11/19/05