3.05.2010

Do It, Do It, Alright

Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team

There are few albums that manage to legitimately encapsulate the raw action power of classic Saturday morning cartoons (just think: Kid Cudi's Man on The Moon; for all the narration and "plot", it falls utterly flat in so many ways). It has been nearly impossible for me to think about writing about Thunder, Lightning, Strike. It's hard to find words to describe something when the only sentence going through your brain is "Just listen to it!"

Thunder, Lightning, Strike was the debut for The Go! Team (created in Ian Parton's kitchen, of all places), first released in the UK, re-released a year later in the US, a slightly modified version due to issues with certain samples featured on the tracks. But either way you get it (the original or the slightly remixed), it's impossible not to start grinning ear to ear.

The album starts off with "Panther Dash" (and yes, all the other tracks have equally awesome names), which sets the mood for the album, each track building off of the previous. Songs like "Ladyflash" and "The Power Is On" feature ample use of samples, creating music that combines guitars, horns, double dutch chants, old hip hop and movies.


It's easy to understand the motivation behind making such a record; Parton decided to take some of his favorite things and make music out of it. The fact that most people would never combine Sonic Youth guitars with 1970s car chase music is what makes it so incredibly endearing. The Go! Team's ability to cohesively create music that recalls the nostalgia of our most beloved action sequences in film and animation automatically makes Thunder, Lightning, Strike one of the best albums of the year.

2 comments:

Tha Master said...

Funny pic on the top of the page :)

amda said...

Thanks, I drew it myself :)