Live in LA

Comments (0) Thursday, Jul 28 2005

THE GO! TEAM at the Troubadour, July 21 With another attempted bombing fresh off the news wires and fear and uncertainty on both sides of the pond, the U.K.’s newest hot-shit sensation, the Go! Team, seem determined not to let current events dampen their spirits. Facing perhaps the happiest crowd the Troubadour has ever hosted, this group of three boys and three girls — led by the lovely and charming lady Ninja — challenged L.A.’s heat wave with one of their own making. Their deliriously energetic music, a mixture of garage rock, punk, hip-hop and soul, came across as a youthful and ecstatic force, and Ninja’s dance moves could put MC Hammer to shame. Although live they feel more like a regular band than their furious collage of a debut record suggests, the Go! Team rocked and popped the sweating room. Band members constantly changed instruments, moving from drums to guitar to harmonica to keys. Near the end of the set, drummer Chi Fukami Taylor took over microphone duties to sing a sweet and tentative number. But the lulls were never long this night, and the band quickly launched back into their urban amalgamation of street sounds. The hype machine is in full swing right now for this young group, but they proved their merit as a party band that’s not overtly silly or ironic. The Go! Team is more block party than Bloc Party, and hopefully their move to the majors will nurture, not neuter them.

—Jonah Flicker