The Go! Team - Proof of Youth (Shock/Memphis Industries)

Two years ago at the Big Day Out, in between performances I had actually planned to see, I wandered into the smaller Green and Red Stage areas.

Almost immediately I was consumed by a genre-bending sound that can only be described as musical Prozac; quite possibly the world's happiest band - The Go! Team - were a few songs into their set.

Formed in 2004, by Ian Parton, the Brighton-based six-piece produces a manic musical assault on the eardrums.

Using multiple drum kits, trumpets, a pile of guitars and anything else they can get hold of, they fuse together elements of old-school hip hop, electronic funk, chanting and indie rock - producing a highly original sound with a strangely familiar feel to it.

The lead single and opener, Grip It Like A Vice, provides an explosive start to the album, and sets up a hiss-roar theme which flows through almost every tune.

although the band seems to calm down as the album draws to a close - probably in parallel to the Ritalin kicking in.

Proof of Youth is the band's second studio album, following the relatively popular sample-laden Thunder, Lightning, Strike.

And like the debut album, The Go! Team has successfully fused elements of the past and present to produce another futuristic family-friendly gem.

Rating: 4/5

- © Fairfax NZ News