Mix of sweetness, tackiness, noise gets fans going

A band that was born in a music nerd's bedroom is not the kind of outfit that should translate well to a live stage - especially a band that relies on dusty samples of Northern soul, breathy melodica solos, and fuzzy loops of marching band snare drums. But there was the Go! Team, commanding a sold-out audience at the Paradise to chant "Do it! Do it! All right!," and the audience responded as dutifully and excitedly as a hausfrau from Stepford, Conn.

The Go! Team has a secret weapon in the form of singer-rapper Ninja (just Ninja, thank you), a gleeful spitfire who sported a fetching hot-pink terry ensemble Thursday night and channeled Neneh Cherry on much of the British band's new sophomore album, "Proof of Youth." Onstage, she is a perfect foil to the band's creative center, the angular and intense Ian Parton, who often creates songs based on childhood favorites (he often cites Charlie Brown as musical inspiration).

The band's Paradise set, performed to an urban-outfitted audience chock-a-block with angular haircuts, was akin to a suburban Christmas morning circa 1983 - a perfect mix of gooey sweetness, giddy, multicolored tackiness, and dissonant noises all eagerly competing for attention.

Bands that base their live shows around adrenaline and sweat have the challenge of maintaining Woody Woodpecker-like energy levels for an hour or more every night, and the Go! Team struggled at times to keep their party from sagging. Guitars are clearly not a friend of the band. Heavier songs such as "Panther Dash" and "Grip Like a Vice" were weighted down under feedback and swampy sonic layers.

The reward for wading through the murky bits was the sugary high of "Bottle Rocket" and the Bollywood beats of "Ladyflash." The Go! Team has obviously stumbled upon a secret scientific formula for fusing together melodies from "Sesame Street," the lonesome harmonica solo from "Midnight Cowboy," and the early beats of Salt 'n' Pepa into something that stays on the lovely side of pandemonium.

Openers Matt and Kim, the Brooklyn duo that performs with just a drum kit and a Yamaha keyboard, played an intensely cheerful set that essentially beat the crowd into happy submission. It was nearly impossible to escape Matt Johnson's geeky and euphoric between-song chatter, or the band's chipper, lo-fi punk.