The Go! Team - Semicircle (LP)

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The Go! Team have always been cheerleaders for a better world - an outpouring of collective joy in the face of small-mindedness and dismal careerism. They rejoice in the unifying urges and the chance encounters between cultures that lead to something new. They'€™re a band who still have faith in the power of music to make things better. Now more than ever, we need The Go! Team.

The brainchild of Brighton-based melody obsessive Ian Parton, The Go! Team'€™s fifth album Semicircle began with an idea; in his head was the image of a school marching band gone rogue, chucking away their sheet music to blast out Northern soul stompers or Japanese indie-pop swooners or old school hip hop jams. "€œI like the swing and the toughness of marching bands, the physicality of feeling a beater walloping a bass drum,"€ explains Ian, "€œbut I wanted to reclaim them from patriotic or sporty associations. That was the kick-off for this record."

Ian is keen to emphasise that the vibrant utopia he and his cohorts have conjured up on their fifth album is not an escapist fantasy but a potentially achievable goal. "It'€™s about reminding yourself of the good things in life,"€ he says. "€œWe don'€™t want to be dumbly optimistic and say, '€˜Hey, isn'€™t everything great!'€™ but there'€™s something to be said for just getting on with it, for getting organised and not letting the fuckers get you down. Party for your right to fight!"

- LP
- 180g vinyl
- Includes download