Is it possible to sound like you???re having more fun than The Go! Team? Probably not, going on Proof of Youth, the second album from Brighton???s brightest pop experimentalists. As on its predecessor, 2004???s Thunder, Lightning, Strike, the eleven songs of Proof of Youth burst out your speakers like tangy pop bubblegum, but on closer inspection, suggest a broader, braver web of influences; many bands can remind you of the chirpy soul singalongs of The Jackson 5, the metallic guitar clang of Sonic Youth, or the cut-and-paste sonic collages of Public Enemy???s The Bomb Squad, but only one can do it in a single song. "Grip Like a Vice" and "Titanic Vandalism" prove The Go! Team template is present and correct, joyful melanges of car-chase horns, double dutch vocals, melodic guitar, and crowd-hyping rapping from MC/cheerleader Ninja. But there???s more here than formula. "My World" is a simple, pretty interlude of acoustic guitar, shaker, and synthesiser straight from some Look Around You-style 1980s science show, "I Never Needed It Now So Much" is a na??ve pop song featuring vocals from Solex, and the glorious "Flashlight Fight" is a Public Enemy pastiche that actually features Chuck D. Skill. --Louis Pattison

I quite like this album but can't handle listening to it all the way through in one go. The tunes whilst catchy tend to be a bit overenthusiastic which is good for one or two but then it starts to grate a bit.
The style of production adds to the grating as it's very lo-fi. I can't work out if this is on purpose or if it's just badly produced. If it's on purpose then I think they should consider polishing it up a bit as some of the music on these songs is top notch but it's lost a bit in the noise which is a big shame. There's no space in any of the mixes and they just tend to be a bit over loud and noisy which to me comes across as a bit na??ve and amateurish. If the lo-fi sound is down to bad production then it's a shame as some of the arrangements and music on this album are excellent with some very inspiring stuff going on.
I'll be back to check them out again anyway and hope they get a better producer.

Just as with their debut - Thunder, Lightning, Strike - this album delivers a batch of joyful tunes that cannot fail to make you grin from ear to ear. It's difficult to say why this mash up of rap, dance and old melodies work - they simply do!

I first heard The Go! Team via their recent Doing It Right single - pop, brass, chants, unbelievably uplifting. The album is everything the single promises: a wonderful mess of cut ups, percussion, and general pop genius. The first record to get me excited about hip hop since De La Soul's first album (boy does that date me).

Currently welded to my CD player. Strongly recommended for those who want a massive pop rush and, well, surely that's everyone.

If the Go! Team's debut "Thunder Lightning Strike!" was a cheerleading squad on acid, then their second is the same squad taking over a club.

And "Proof of Youth" features this deliciously raucous, wild-sounding Brighton band splashing new sounds over their music. The quieter songs don't quite fit their sound as well, but fortunately most of the album is rollicking colourful rock'n'roll and quirky rap-pop, still fresh and fun.

"The blast from the past, superb in every word/Soupest female rapper, yes the best you heard... To you!/So what you wanna do?" It's a bit self-absorbed, but who cares? The first song -- and lead single -- is a frenetically-drummed, funky dance tune with their trademarked acid-funk-cheerleading-rock style. It'll make you dance, whether you like it or not.

It also sets the tone for the album, with loads of rollicking indiepop full of emphatic raps you can barely make out. Lots of blaring horns, schizophrenic synth, shimmering melodica, tinkly edges, wild riffs and bouncy, expansive melodies that are dizzying to listen to. The driving rock and powerpop hurtle you toward the finish line, the quirky, playful "Patricia's Moving Picture."

But the Go! Team also tries out some quieter songs -- "I Never Needed It Now So Much" is a straightforward indiepop tune with some wonky keyboard. And "My World" is a bit of a shock, with just a layer of keyboard over an acoustic instrumental. It's a letdown when it starts, and a shock when it switches over to the jumbled festival sound of "Titanic Vandalism."

Basically the Go! Team have much the same sound as before -- rap-funk-psychrock-pop as played by alien cheerleaders, and played with the same kind of wild enthusiasm. And to keep listeners astounded, "Proof of Life" just tries a few new things, polishes the edges, and tries for a more organic sound with fewer samples.

Okay, I didn't really like the quiet songs -- they didn't sound like the Go! Team, and didn't possess that volcanic energy. But all the other songs show why I adore this band: playfully colourful funky-pop, or wild, driving indie-rock/rap. The instrumentation is a dense tangle of roiling electric guitars, gentle acoustics, crazy smashing drums, xylophone chimes, a brassy array of trumpets, and waves and swooshes of colourful synth. Occasionally you can even hear a harmonica in there.

And the samples? They're still there, but they're more interwoven into the melodies -- you can hear some sirens somewhere in the mix, alongside Ninja's powerful raps, Solex's pop tune, Kaori Tsuchida's girlish chants ("DO it! DO it! ALL RIGHT!") and Chuck D in the penultimate track. Bless him, his raps blend seamlessly into the storm of crazy brass'n'riffs.

"Proof of Life" could have benefited by snipping a couple of songs, but the resulting sophomore album is still a gloriously energetic, joyous mishmash of styles and sounds. All right, do it all right!

do it!

do it!

alright!

why this album works: it's like eating sugar when you were 7. a huge rush flows through your body until you fall over, frothing at the mouth and crying. being a dumb kid, of course, you keep coming back, eating more and more sugar until your teeth turn to dust. imagine that scenario without the negative bits. that's this album, and that's why it's so great.

sugarsgeateateatme.!!.,1