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THUNDER LIGHTNING STRIKE
COLUMBIA
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It's been a year since this Brighton six-piece seized Great Britain, earning a Mercury Prize nomination along the way, and now the bubbly dance music of Thunder Lighting Strike has been given a proper Stateside release in all its we-rock-the-party clamor. Go! Team leader Ian Parton and MC Ninja mash together old-school hip-hop cadences, hopped-up percussion, indie guitars, and Motown horns recorded somewhere on Sesame Street in a lo-fi setting. (My guess: a crowded basement that’s cramped but not claustrophobic.) Don’t let the sometimes muddy sound and unintelligible chants fool you: the Go! Team’s musically and ethnically diverse members come together with the purpose and precision of Anime hero Voltron. They sport their playful pop sensibility best on "We Just Won’t Be Defeated" (one of two bonus tracks for the US release), with shout-along vocals that bring to mind a high-school pep rally. Like the Avalanches they appreciate the obscure sample, and like Cibo Matto they know how to bring the fun.
The Go! Team + the Grates | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | Nov 1 | 617.228.6000
