It’s been exactly two years since Hot Press first offered an opinion on The Go! Team, giving the illustrious Single Of The Fortnight nod to their debut, ‘Lady Flash’. Back then they were a largely anonymous outfit, created by one guy in his bedroom. Since then they have become largely ubiquitous, thanks to the twin-pronged approach of soundtracking what appears to be 75% of all TV and radio shows and a never-ending touring schedule.
It’s worked here as much as anywhere else – this year they did battle with The Who at Oxegen (they won) and now they join the rock establishment by playing the Olympia. There would seem to be nothing that they can’t do, except maybe fight the passing of time. To their credit, they’ve managed to keep their live show fresh by virtually rewriting much of their album for the stage, adding vocals to the mainly instrumental tracks and bringing out hitherto unexplored dynamics.
Everything has been upped – from the thrashing guitars to the hip-hop beats and dance influences; no wonder they’re the only band who could possibly support both Sonic Youth and Basement Jaxx. Thankfully they’re also looking forward, and the set contains a smattering of new material. True, some of the new songs are more interesting than others, but all suggest the band are well placed to build on their success to date.
For now, however, they are still an enthralling (if slightly tired looking) spectacle. Ninja has the assembled masses falling at her feet within five minutes, and in the new addition of Japanese punk rock princess Kaori, they have the perfect vocal foil.
What we need for them to do now is go away and dream it all up again: they’ve already proved that they’re one of the top five live bands in the world, now they have to make the record that proves they can become the most inspiring British act of the decade. Anything else, I’m afraid, would be unacceptable.