Following last week's release of the Go! Team's Rolling Blackouts, the band should be breathing a big sigh of relief. However, the album didn't turn out to be the "schizo" record the band had initially hoped for.
"I set out to make songs like you're flipping channels on the radio," Ian Parton, the Go! Team's founder and songwriter, explains in a recent Exclaim! interview. "I think it's still a frustrated idea; I haven't realized it properly. That's still a goal for someone to try and nail, to really make schizo music."
But that doesn't mean Parton is disappointed with the end result. By being intentional about adding more melody, singing and pop sensibilities, he says they have produced a more rounded experience.
"There's more light and shade, and it's something you can listen to in one sitting," Parton says. "It hasn't got that relentlessness that made Proof of Youth an exhausting listen. I'm basically trying to make fucked-up little pop songs that are a bit strange. But nothing like fucking Lady Gaga."
Although Rolling Blackouts took almost four years to release after the Go! Team's 2007 sophomore effort Proof of Youth, Parton explains that he isn't concerned if fans have forgotten them or moved on. In fact, if anything, he's become more confident in their music.
"I still don't try to please anyone or think about the critics," he says. "I'm not one to pander to tastes or to what is current. I think we're still quite unique and there's no one else like us in the world, as far as I know. People say Sleigh Bells, but not really."
As previously reported, the Go! Team are in the midst of a UK tour, with a North American jaunt scheduled to take place in April. They will make one Canadian stop in Toronto on April 10. You can view all the band's dates here.
Rolling Blackouts is out now on Memphis Industries. To read more of Exclaim!'s interview with the Go! Team, head here.
"I set out to make songs like you're flipping channels on the radio," Ian Parton, the Go! Team's founder and songwriter, explains in a recent Exclaim! interview. "I think it's still a frustrated idea; I haven't realized it properly. That's still a goal for someone to try and nail, to really make schizo music."
But that doesn't mean Parton is disappointed with the end result. By being intentional about adding more melody, singing and pop sensibilities, he says they have produced a more rounded experience.
"There's more light and shade, and it's something you can listen to in one sitting," Parton says. "It hasn't got that relentlessness that made Proof of Youth an exhausting listen. I'm basically trying to make fucked-up little pop songs that are a bit strange. But nothing like fucking Lady Gaga."
Although Rolling Blackouts took almost four years to release after the Go! Team's 2007 sophomore effort Proof of Youth, Parton explains that he isn't concerned if fans have forgotten them or moved on. In fact, if anything, he's become more confident in their music.
"I still don't try to please anyone or think about the critics," he says. "I'm not one to pander to tastes or to what is current. I think we're still quite unique and there's no one else like us in the world, as far as I know. People say Sleigh Bells, but not really."
As previously reported, the Go! Team are in the midst of a UK tour, with a North American jaunt scheduled to take place in April. They will make one Canadian stop in Toronto on April 10. You can view all the band's dates here.
Rolling Blackouts is out now on Memphis Industries. To read more of Exclaim!'s interview with the Go! Team, head here.