The Go! Team - 'Rolling Blackouts' (Memphis Industries) Released: 31/01/11

Back for their third outing, Brighton mash-up collective The Go! Team return after digging in the crates for the past three years, searching out the latest in crazy samples, loud symphonies, and funky rhythms. Up to their old tricks, ‘Rolling Blackouts’ hears Ian and the crew entice you with yet more instrumental goodness and vocally sporadic accompaniments.
   
Beginning with what can only be described as an aggressively active drumline pelting, ‘T.O.R.N.A.D.O.’ opens to much fanfare, literally, while the signature rapping, and chanting, talents of Ninja help pick up where ‘Proof Of Youth’ ended back in ’07. The continuous hard hitting brass section absorbs you to the point where you’d be forgiven for thinking you were at a college American Football rally. ‘Voice Yr Choice’ is a happy-go-lucky moment that is very reminiscent to a number of Mark Ronson post hip-hop era productions.

‘Ready To Go Steady’ plays like an early sixties pop record with good old wholesome family values at the heart of its subject matter. With bells chiming and tambourines shaking, this cheery delight is without doubt an album highlight. Short but very sweet, it’s just a shame it’s not summertime as it sounds like the perfect bike-riding-whilst-showered-with-sun-rays song. Another track that deserves a mention is the lyrically silent, excluding the last 10 seconds, ‘Yosemite Theme’. Sounding like a cross between the ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ and ‘Top Gear’ theme songs, joyful strums of the banjo meet with bursts of brass to form a mid-tempo relaxation classic.

Courageous, but unfortunately missing the mark, ‘Lazy Poltergeist’ is a short piano break in between the uplifting guitar-laced ‘The Running Range’ and title track ‘Rolling Blackouts’. A fast-paced album, the interruption of the slow and soothing riff is comparative to appointing Roy Hodgson as the Liverpool manager… the wrong choice! If situated just two tracks further on, the interlude could quite easily have become the perfect outro. Allowing listeners to ‘warm down’, after an adrenaline pumping 40 minutes, could have been the best way to finish up.

All in all, when picking up a Go! Team album you know what to expect - unobvious instrumental arrangements, flawless sampling, powerful chants, and a crew of very talented musicians. ‘Rolling Blackouts’ is another tidy collection of cuts featuring the above mentioned qualities.