The Go! Team Proof of Youth

• Words: Justin Hopper
• Label: Sub Pop
• XLR8R Rating: /10

When Brighton party terrorists The Go! Team first sprung on the scene with Thunder, Lightning, Strike, the band's carefree mix of northern soul, pop, indie rock, and seminal hip-hop made cool kids wet their white-belted jeans from Williamsburg to Hackney. But everyone assumed it to be as flash-in-the-pan as its title-some even willed the Team to disappear rather than hit a sophomore slump. Why did we worry? For Proof of Youth, The Go! Team's gone one further, making a record that truly approximates the joyful chaos of listening to music-a club's overloaded bass, complete with dancing and chanting. It's perfect for a group to whom "classic rock" means Happy Mondays. From the Jackson 5 to Superchunk, Stone Roses to "Uptown Top Ranking," The Go! Team cannibalizes music that is, itself, the result of cultural cannibalism. It's post-post-post-modern, and it's fucking brilliant.