Marmoset

After three albums and two EPs with Secretly Canadian over the course of a decade, Indianapolis, IN's Marmoset have moved on to humbler home Joyful Noise for their fourth LP. A year after the death of former member LonPaul Ellrich, the trio of Jorma Whittaker, Dave Jablonski and Jason Cavan surprisingly start this new chapter sounding more alive than ever. Tea Tornado finds the band still half-asleep and immersed in lo-fi rock and psychedelia but missing a lot of the experimental wandering that made albums like Today It's You and their last effort, Florist Fired, so beautifully divided. With their chins up, the trio announce their arrival with the sprightly "Written Today," one of the simplest and most pleasing tracks they've ever recorded. From there, "Strawberry Shortcakes" uses mostly bass and drums to take their Syd Barrett infatuation to a new dimension, "Musing" introduces glam to some grit and "Hallway" attempts to channel the British Invasion through a cocktail of Valium and guarana. While it doesn't quite match their 2001 yardstick, The Record in Red, Tea Tornado is Marmoset's most undemanding listen yet and an affirmation that a change in labels hasn't effected their ability to keep moving forward. Read an interview at exclaim.ca.