The Daily Spin, July 29
The Go! Team | Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
Album: Thunder, Lightning, Strike (2004)
Artist: The Go! Team
Link:
Pitchfork likened Thunder, Lightning, Strike to the cartoon superhero themes of Saturday mornings past, and while those were rarely ever a feature in my childhood, it feels an apt description of this album in more ways than one.
There’s a definite energy to each of these songs, one that propels every instance forward with maximum aplomb - almost to the detriment of the album. I love a good chaotic venture, and the Go! Team have a lot of that absolutely nailed down here, but there also come points where that “wall-of-sound” feeling has gone on a bit too long and you’re left trying to make sense of something inherently designed to befuddle.
The vocals take a similar approach - while I appreciate the energy here and what they’re trying to do, it all winds up muddling everything, feeling less like a smoothie and more like the blender blew a fuse ten seconds into actually putting everything together.
That said, I can definitely appreciate this music, and I think part of my feelings on it may just be the headspace I’m in, but it’s something I have to call out - just because it fits the design of the album doesn’t mean that it works in the grander scheme.
Rating: 7.3/10
Best Tracks: Everyone’s A VIP To Someone; The Power Is On
Worst Tracks: Bottle Rocket; Panther Dash