Throughout the last 14 years, the enigmatic trio known as Marmoset have fostered a near-mythical cult status with their claustrophobic, moody, and etherial blend of indie pop. Having crafted such subtle, eccentric, and critically acclaimed pop masterpieces as 2001's "Record In Red" (Secretly Canadian), Marmoset continue their unruly trajectory with the lazy swagger, slimy melody, and profound simplicity that is Tea Tornado. 

 

2009 finds Marmoset at their most energetic, revelatory, and sensational - with a stripped-down, punchier sound that seems to recall their earliest work of 1995's "Hiddenforbidden" or 1999's "Today It's You." But we find no re-hashing on Tea Tornado, just simple and surreal songs with twisted sensibilities and perplexingly sexy vocals. Principal songwriters Jorma Whittiker and Dave Jablanski craft songs that seem to come from a shimmering, hallucinogenic cavern; with an encyclopedic knowledge of 20th century pop. 

 

The band's subtle take on primordial-post-punk spawns songs whose overly-simple structures seem to speak in tongues. While songs like "Strawberry Shortcakes" and "Peach Cobbler" thrive on this simplicity, tracks like "Come With Me" and "Hallway" contain melodies that would make Kim Deal's ears perk. Juxtaposed with these melodious moments are tracks like "You, Blueberry Muffin" and "Oh' Dear Handlebars" which contain all of the essential eccentricities that make Marmoset the introverted misfits they are channeling the spirit of Swell Maps or an early and non-jam-leaning Sonic Youth. 

 

Tea Tornado is too strange to be punk, too free of pretension to be psychedelic or glam, but it's filled with moments that conjure up each of these genres. Marmoset's songs deal in dark love, modern confusion, drug haze, poetic nightmares, and melancholy melodies. Marmoset have undergone a decade-plus of being under-appreciated heroes of lo-fi indie rock, and the heart of their music is still grainy beauty, blood and guts, harmony and dissonance. Marmoset are at the top of their game on Tea Tornado, and it's time for the world to catch up.