millionreasons | Entries tagged with go team

The problem with being in one’s thirties is that all music sounds like something else. When I hear the bands that all the kidz dig, I think, as I reach for my pipe and my slippers: Yeah, but it just sounds like a not-as-good Jam/T-rex/Smiths – what’s the point of that? Even music I like, such as last summertime’s obsession Jens Lekman, reminds me of all of Sarah Records’ output – emotionally, if not always musically. But had I heard the Velvet Underground aged 14 then would all those bands that I found so exciting, the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, the House of Love seem the same? Of course they would. It’s only when you get older that you start to see a ‘family tree’ of musical influences. I wandered onto youtube the other day and started watching the old JAMC videos and they’re still great. Feedback! Stupid hair! Bobby Gillespie before he became a cunt! I love the way that everyone looked so rubbish in the indie 80s. A bit of backcombing, a squoosh of hairspray, some drainpipe jeans, an old shirt and there you go, same for the girls. No-one looked quite so….glossy as they do today. There’re all the Shelter C86 vids on there as well which sent me off into a pointless nostalgia spiral.

Anyway, we went out last night to Koko, né the Camden Palace, one of the few venues on the Northern Line I’ve never visited. It’s quite a corker: crimson walls, tiered balconies leading up to a Victorian swirled ceiling and the biggest glitter ball I’ve ever seen. When it starts turning, the whole building flickers with miniature purple lights. We watch the Grates who sound like Th’ Faith Healers or maybe Hole. I’m very glad we’ve missed Smoosh who are apparently aged 11 and 14. Ick. I remember Skinned Teen, and still have nightmares.

Before the headliners come on, a diverse range of music is played – Hip Hop, 60s soul, MBV, the Velvelettes - which is appropriate as the band we’ve come to see, the Go! Team, have been described as somewhat eclectic in their musical influences. Sonic Youth meets The Jackson 5 is the most accurate description I’ve seen. Sly and the Family Stone vs Brassy is the best thing I can come up with. Multi-gendered, multi-ethnic, multi-instrumental, they run around between and during songs swapping from drums to guitar, from melodica to bass, from keyboards to midi-harmonica to recorder to percussion – hip-hop bands don’t have recorders! Indie bands don’t have MCs! Rock bands don’t have two teenage girls in red tracksuits to come on to shouty backing vocals and rap-dancing! Mid-set, the drummer and two of the indie-lads do a Mo Tucker style ballad and the first encore features a banjo. Their instrumentals sound like adverts, but they don’t sell their music to marketing men. They do the mega Bottle Rocket (2 4 6 6 8) towards the end of their set and save the fabulous Ladyflash (yeah yeah yeah yeah….yeah) for the second encore when the stroppy, chunky-yet-gorgeous, basketball-attired MC Ninja does some dancing from around the world (Africa – strange waving of the arms, America – very bad breakdancing, Ireland – even worse riverdancing, England – bopping about) with her posseee, one of whom does the splits. It’s like a dance-off in Blackpool circa 1982, yet I keep expecting Sam and Dave to come on to some spontaneous synchronised boogieing. At the end, the entire band falls onto the floor whilst the glitterball spins into oblivion. I’ve never heard, or seen, anything like it.

I think they’re what the Royal Tenenbaums would have sounded like had they got up off their depressed arses and formed a band.