The Sound - acceleration group, 1987

"Acceleration Group" is a song by the English post-punk band The Sound, featured as the opening track on their fifth and final studio album, Thunder Up, released on December 28, 1987, by the Belgian label Play It Again Sam. Written by frontman Adrian Borland, the song embodies the band’s signature blend of new wave, pop rock, and post-punk, with lyrics that evoke themes of persistence, defiance, and breaking free from stagnation. Lines like “The flames will flicker and the wanting will waver / But there's something in this somewhere / That's going to go on forever” and references to the “acceleration group with the acceleration groove” suggest a restless energy and a refusal to conform. The track runs for 3:34 and was recorded at Elephant Studio in London. Thunder Up marked a shift toward a more polished guitar-pop sound compared to the band’s earlier, rawer work, though it retained their emotional intensity. Despite critical praise—Melody Maker called it a magnification of “the intensity of expression,” and band members like drummer Michael Dudley and bassist Graham Bailey considered it their finest work—the album was not commercially successful. The subsequent tour, marred by Borland’s mental health struggles, led to the band’s breakup in early 1988."