Retro doesn't go as far as it used to in music nowadays. The overabundance of bands who are content with simply repackaging musical archetypes for unsuspecting audiences has taken credibility away from forward-minded musicians looking to the past for inspiration.
Fortunately for District-area concertgoers, no one bothered to tell that to The Go! Team, as they thrilled the capacity crowd at the Black Cat with their unique blend of youthful exuberance and all things old school on Sunday night.
Sporting sweaty headbands, knee-highs and colorful shirts not quite cool enough to make it off the racks at your local vintage store, the critically acclaimed British band dunked a diverse audience into a sea of distortion-drenched nostalgia. With enough energy to keep the kiddies in the front bouncing and enough musical throwbacks to keep the more mature onlookers (chaperones included) equally as rowdy, The Go! Team showed why their darling approach to rock and kitschy surface appeal can't quite cover up the seriously innovative music that lies beneath.
What started as a solo project by guitarist/drummer/harmonica player Ian Parton has now grown to Fat Albert-sized proportions, with The Go! Team achieving success across the Atlantic without the dubious help of the Brit-pop hype machine known for regurgitating unsubstantiated comparisons to the country's greatest modern rock acts (and Oasis, too).
The band garnered a Mercury Music Prize (the award for the best British or Irish album of the last year) nomination in 2005 for their critically acclaimed full length debut "Thunder, Lightning, Strike," and with upcoming appearances at influential U.S. music festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza this spring and summer, like the title of the track four on "Thunder..." dictates, "The Power is On."
Before moving on to bigger and better things, though, The Go! Team brought their double drum-kit-driven, Sugarhill funk to Washington for the first time, turning the Black Cat into a thunderous pep rally even Horseshack and the rest of the sweat-hogs from "Welcome Back Kotter" would be proud of. After an opening set by local District mainstay Medications, the members of The Go! Team jogged on stage, immediately bursting into "Panther Dash," with the whirling sounds of careening airplanes giving way to tremolo guitars and the meanest harmonica riff to come out of England since Eric Clapton ran with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.
The band continued to keep the boomerang and TV Land flavor rolling, and the whole crowd waved their hands like stick up targets with the horn-soaked new number, "The Wrath of Miky," with cheerleader/vocalist Ninja spitting flows like, "Bring it back where you at!" with a style and smoothness reminiscent of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
With band members running back and forth across the stage, swapping instruments and uncontrollably jumping up and down for the duration of the show, the energy level never skipped a beat, unlike the worn out LP's that serve as the inspiration for their music.
Some Spaghetti Western-style songs were added to the fray, with the rapturous, mechanical tandem drumming of Parton and fellow drummer Chi "Ky" Taylor, aided by some monstrous guitar slinging in "Junior Kickstart," painting pictures of saloon gunfights and cigar chewing cowboys.
Like waking up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons, the band's Johnny Quest-like adventurousness kept the audience tuned in with wide eyes and even broader smiles. The Go! Team members couldn't hold back a grin themselves as they cheerfully finished their set with their latest single, "Ladyflash." With Ninja breaking it down like Crazy Legs to the grimy New York break beat, throwing karate kicks and twirling around in her yellow pom-pom skirt, the audience held up their end of the bargain, never ceasing to hop as high as the sky till the song came to a crashing conclusion with the band members collapsing together in a pile of limbs and vintage Fender gear.
So go ahead and tell The Go! Team that retro is dead; that a genuine love for the best music memory lane has to offer has no part in the current indie scene. They'll just keep smiling, doing their own thing like a child fixated on a TV set, rife with imagination and joy. Just don't bother offering spinach.
