"remember the past, diving into the future" (The Go! Team - The Scene Between)

The Go! Team
The Scene Between

Why you'll love it: good impersonation of 70's pop

Why you'll hate it: too sugary, lacks attitude

Are things changing or staying the same for The Go! Team?  It's hard to tell.  Depending on how much knowledge you have of the project's history and background, that answer can vary drastically.  The Go! Team's architect, Ian Parton, reportedly disengaged with his entire ensemble on the build up to creating The Scene Between.  The resulting product has much less of an aggressive old-school hip hop tinge.  Replaced instead with bubblegum pop, hippie folk-rock, and cult-like anthems.

The sound and lineup changes have led to a lot of pouting by fans on the internet.  It seems no one can agree on what the "real" Go! Team is.  From my understanding, The Go! Team albums are scrapbook like collaborations composed by Ian Parton, and whatever guests he can hook up with.  The touring band then goes out and essentially covers those songs.  People that feel let down by touring members like "Ninja" not being on the new album may not realize how little contribution they actually had in the studio.  Looking at things this way allows The Go! Team sound to be whatever the hell Parton wants it to be.  On this album, it happens to be lo-fi pop music.

Much appreciation to Parton for finding some little known indie gems in the musical world for this album.  Shoegaze pop artist Samira Winter sugarcoats the boisterous opening track "What D'You Say?"  Doreen Kirchner performs on my favorite song on here, "Blowtorch".  If not for Annabelle Cazes' contribution on "Catch Me on The Rebound" I would not have discovered her wacky sounds of Glockabelle.  "Did You Know?" is practically raining sprinkles and gumdrops on Shi Lu for her equally sweet delivery.  The Scene Between replaces the aggressive dance-offs of the past two albums with kissing booths.  Another point of chagrin for certain fans if they don't have an affinity for the sugary pop of yesteryear.

Essentially, The Go! Team still has the basics.  Dusty old samples that sound like they've been duct taped together.  A Shibuya-kei like remixing of retro pop.  Rolling Blackouts (2011) was probably as good as mashing up jock jams, Sonic Youth, and Run DMC could get; so it's good to hear the project moving on to new ventures.  There isn't as much diversity on The Scene Between, but the wink of subversiveness when things start to get over the top keeps things from getting stale.  There is a strange underlying tone in a few of the songs, like they're written from the point of view of a cult, trying to recruit new members with a catchy pop song.

While it gets a bit samey at times, The Scene Between is a lock for 2015's best summer album, and maybe one of the best by the end of the year.  Only its confusing interludes of radio feedback slow down the ALL THE TIME GOOD VIBES this album pours from start to finish.