It all starts in the seaside resort town of Brighton - originally two neighboring towns melded together by the only British mash-up artist more famous than Fatboy Slim, the Queen of England - where restless documentary filmmaker Ian Parton began excavating samples from his massive record collection and putting 'em together in his own bedroom. It ends, hopefully, with a copy of the Go! Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike pressed between your sticky little fingers - since a recent major label re-release affords the opportunity to hop in on the ground floor.

Considering the terms and circumstances of its construction, Thunder, Lightning, Strike - which Parton more or less finished in his bedroom before auditioning the rest of the band - sounds shockingly fluid. The record literally contains hundreds and hundreds of samples, some layered over each other like sedimentary rock, spread out onto a larger canvas with live instrumentation and home-cooked beats. After the disc made some noise on tiny British indie Memphis Industries in 2004, Columbia Records picked up the option for the Brighton-based collective's ode to sonic thievery and repackaged it for an official U.S. release. Keen observers will note that this amended version differs slightly from the original; like every other sample-based project of the post-Paul's Boutique era, clearance proved to be a sticking point.

"It was a pain, because Ian had to make a list of every single sample he'd heard in his life," explains female emcee Ninja, who joined the group after responding to a classified ad. "I don't think he realized that the Go! Team would get this far. So he had to pour through his computer and dig up all these records to put together a list. It created some trouble, too: 'Ladyflash' [which contains four samples credited in the liner notes] was completely given away. We literally don't own anything about that song. And there are a few other tracks on the album where most of the rights were assigned elsewhere because Ian wanted to preserve as much of his original vision as he could."

"It wasn't as bad of an experience as I thought it might be," adds Parton. "There was a dark moment where I was told that the whole record would have to be revisited, but it turned out OK. I could have changed more stuff and made more money by retaining publishing rights, but I wanted to keep things as close as possible. It actually allowed us to improve a few songs. The production remains super trashy, but it kicks more down the bottom end - there was no pressure to clean up the sound of the record."

Parton almost lost his girl and lost his fun, but he fought the law and the law ... backed down. Save the difficulties both he and Ninja alluded to above, precious little of Thunder, Lightning, Strike has changed since crossing over the Atlantic. The vocals on "Bottle Rocket," the opening of "Huddle Formation" and a short passage on record-closer "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" featured samples that couldn't be cleared; everything else - snippets of the Hair and Wild Style soundtracks, Shirley Ellis and Laura Nyro - stayed put. Parton's approach to making the record was very seamless, and 99 percent of the samples were unrecognizable to begin with; as Ninja notes, "only die-hard fans would notice the difference."

Two new songs - previously available only as b-sides - make the U.S. version of Thunder, Lightning, Strike essential even if you're already sitting on an import copy of the record. "Hold Yr Terror Close," a sleepy ballad and sly nod to Britain's longstanding twee-pop tradition, features drummer Chi Taylor taking a turn on vocals. Meanwhile, "We Just Won't Be Defeated" offers the ultimate expression of Parton's self-admitted obsession with the Rocky soundtrack, an infernally peppy mix of blaring horns and cheerleader-style chants. It's also closest in spirit to the live sound of the six-member band (all multi-instrumentalists) and a pretty good indication of where the Go! Team might progress from here.

"We have a few songs where it'll get to the middle and everyone's shooting across the stage, trying not to trip over wires and guitars," laughs Ninja. "I can't really play anything, so I'll pick up a recorder or a tambourine, but everyone else constantly trades instruments throughout the set. We like having that element of surprise on our side. You never know what's coming next, you never know who's going to be playing what instrument, you never really know how the song's going to end. With six people grouped together on a small stage, you get used to the logistics quickly."

Crowd participation plays a huge part with the Go! Team's live sets, too - perhaps a necessary maneuver when the nascent group's still trying to keep the same 14 or 15 songs fresh from night to night. Recent dates have featured a full chanting squad suiting up with the Go! Team on stage, improvising freestyle dance moves and vocal cheers.

"We really want people to have a good time and get their hands moving at our concerts," says Ninja. "It's strange, because people have been really quick to embrace us outside of New York and London. But those are such tough cities to play. It's almost like people are withholding judgment until we prove ourselves: Should we let you know that we like you, or should we give you a few more songs to sweat it out? Guys, it's OK to dance. Have a laugh and get down!"

Despite a second wave of support tying into the re-release of Thunder, Lightning, Strike and a handful of b-sides leaking onto the Internet from an Australian tour EP and the War Child benefit compilation, Parton and the rest aren't in any rush to begin work on a follow-up disc.

"Everything that's creative about the band - whether it's onstage visuals or the website or the cover designs - usually involves people that I know and trust," he notes. "The sound might become more aggressive with even more of a Public Enemy/Sonic Youth/car-chase feel to it ... maybe. There will certainly be more live vocals [most of the record comprises instrumentals] and the band will probably play more on future recordings. But the Go! Team sound has a lot to do with music that I dig, so I think I'll always have a strong hand in the songwriting."

Here's to more of the same, since repeat spins of the madcap instrumental "Panther Dash" are enough to sate appetites until the Go! Team head back into the studio. Everything else is just gravy.

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