CATALOG

NEWS

"...it has a beauty, a purity that I couldn’t ignore. It has this immediate, slacker rock accessibility that gives way to an eerily tweaked world of innocence, death, longing and childlike metaphors that, upon repeated listening, was almost psychotropic in nature, at least for me. What I mean is that it has haunted me since its release. The songs are short and act like set pieces for the random moods of some hidden mind. Stoned and glorious, Tea Tornado is drenched in a conversational slanginess behind which resides some of the best songwriting of the decade, but it all feels so immediate, as if the first time I heard the album, I’d already heard it 20 times. Such a strange familiarity that leads to bliss."
Fanzine

"Tea is their first release that feels unified in approach and execution, and it’s all the better for it. The entire LP is stripped back, at times to just rhythm section and vocals, which lends an appealing intimacy to the oddly romantic and childlike songs. At the same time, the songs are judiciously peppered with off-kilter backing vocals, production effects, and oddly angular melodies that lend an air of delightful tension. I hear Swell Maps, Wire, Pavement, and Sebadoh echoes here; but most of all I hear a band finally finding its own identity."
The Big Takeover

"If you like your indie rock heavily influenced by the likes of early Creation records, Syd Barrett, and Swell Maps while being filtered through some sort of off-kilter David Lynch sensibility, well you probably already know and like Marmoset."
Brooklyn Vegan

"...the enigmatic trio is still making skewed art pop for the fringes. This year's Tea Tornado, their first LP for Joyful Noise, is marked by the usual signposts: trebly '60s psych, shambling '80s British indie, and '90s alt-noise... like Pavement, Half Japanese, and the Swell Maps all bundled up in goth gauze and served in bite-sized portions."
Flavorpill

"Like all records worth hearing, repeat listens let you in to the crackers world of Marmoset, and it’s so worth the effort. So much so, it becomes hard to believe you ever doubted them... No doubt some folk won’t “get” it, but if you do, you’re in for a treat. Nothing flashy, nothing convoluted, nothing overly complex; yet at the same time, maddeningly complicated, totally unknowable and effortlessly, coolly (like Sonic Youth) cool. It’s so difficult for bands to sound this naïve, this guileless, dark, pop and charming without sounding contrived, pretentious or fake. Marmoset, in that respect, rule... You have a Marmoset sized gap in your collection, small as it is. Sue me if I’m wrong."
Americana UK

"Years after Marmoset's compulsively oddball debut, Today It's You, the band's collision of super-simple melodies and cryptic charm remains as mysterious as ever... Tea Tornado plays like a more concise Today It's You, and a decade on, they're still as much of an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in mystery. "
All Music Guide

"Tea Tornado catches at you with odd, unpolished edges, its raggedness amplifying the emotional impact of its songs. It makes you realize how calculating much of the current lo-fi revival sounds - and how home recording wasn't always a fashion statement. It used to be the way that unconventional, unco-optable artists got their songs down."
Blurt Magazine

"Tea Tornado showcases everything that's made Marmoset such an interesting listen over the last decade and a half."
Magnet Magazine

"Tea Tornado is best to take in gentle sips. Not because it's red-hot but because it takes a few tastes to fully enjoy. Start with "You, Blueberry Muffin," a futuristic stab at Syd Barrett whimsy in a way only frontman Jorma Whittaker -- or maybe Modey Lemon -- could conjure. Then jump over to indie-modster "Musing," a flat, confident Lou Reed vamp with lipstick around its edges."
The Gumshoe Grove

"Marmoset remember a time when bands used to bang out songs shorter than Ronnie Corbett's inside leg measurement, songs that said what they needed to and then fucked off before they became boring, songs that were more infectious than a bucket full of the swine flu virus that didn't outlive their welcome. "
The Devil Has The Best Tuna

"Marmoset has refined a practiced device to manufacture patchwork pieces into Tea Tornado, their upcoming trance/glam collage, proving this Indianapolis trio can make any peculiar combination of musical fog win over a crowd of listeners like a litter of puppies. The band’s hither-thither approach to music as eerily serious as wood screws allows the group to incorporate some humor, crafting a genre Marmoset is comfortable working within. It’s not necessarily poetry — verse isn’t the thing for our minds — but something categorized in a broad sense; combining unrelated diction to accomplish a number of brain-cinching quips would be a somewhat accurate description.... After 14 years spent honing in on unique indie-pop energy, Marmoset bounces with ease between rogue punk antics and crooning sex melodies... Marmoset’s recent decision to switch from longtime label Secretly Canadian to Joyful Noise hasn’t altered their claustrophobic sound or lessened their creative pulse, keeping one of America’s oddest bands ticking."
Eastern Surf Magazine

"With catchy post-punk melodies and the charmingly off-kilter vocals of singer Jorma Whittaker (real name!), their music is guaranteed to have you simultaneously dancing and scratching your head."
The Aquarian

"Given that it only took two years for Tea Tornado to surface on the heels of the excellent Florist Fired, Indianapolis’ Marmoset could finally be coming out of their decade-old shell with some regularity.... It was Whittaker’s pallbearer demeanor that lent the band’s quirky humor more of an unnerving creep rather than the desired effect. Here, in a looser, more playful atmosphere, his baked-goods trilogy, “Strawberry Shortcakes,” “You, Blueberry Muffin” and “Peach Cobbler,” explores the parallels between love, sex, women and dessert without imaging the author as a closeted masochist... There’s a perfect balance on Tea Tornado—even for those devout fans that consider Record in Red their masterpiece—of the group’s woozy, down-tuned, smoke and mirrors and the scruffy amateurism of their beginnings."
The Agit Reader

"...songs range from sparse monotone odes about handlebars to borderline psychedelic grunge with shouting, out-of-sync choral commands to dance."
New City Music

"Surprisingly, the album is slightly less bittersweet than usual for Marmoset—at least on first listen, when what you're most likely to notice are the sunny, folky guitars and the crisp melodies, which sound a little like something Syd Barrett might've written for early Yo La Tengo. But as on past releases there's a surly, cynical edge to the lyrics, which infects the pretty songs with a hint of toxic malaise—these guys may not play hard rock, but that doesn't mean they're soft."
Chicago Reader

"Psychedelic without ever losing themselves to indulgence, the trio have found a signature sound centered around spaced out vocals and cutting lyrics, hovering overtop of carefully considered rhythms and hypnotic melodies... Tea Tornado is the first record since they lost former member and regular contributor, LonPaul Ellrich, last year, and it finds the band still half-asleep and immersed in lo-fi rock and psychedelia. This is their most undemanding listen yet, and an affirmation that a change in labels hasn't affected their ability to keep moving forward. "
Exclaim!

"Introspective indie rock that tends to sneak up on you. Just when you think the sound is trending toward ordinary, Marmoset takes you right back to Coolsville. Assured, confident and quite impressive."
Aiding & Abetting

"Like the album cover art, nothing in a Marmoset song stays in focus for very long; the moods, melodies, and vocals are always shifting to produce a kaleidoscopic dance of light and shadow, like the afternoon sun seen through the leaves of a windblown tree, flashing dark and bright with random intent. Whittaker and Jablonski write the tunes, but they’re carefully arranged to produce a unified sound. They adeptly capture a rare moment in the life of a young man—the instant when the dawning of adult realities clashes with the post-adolescent feelings that dreams will come true and all things are possible."
Crawdaddy

"Their songs are unapologetic, poignant and raw. One minute they could be swooning, the next screaming at the top of their lungs. That's the sonic signature of Marmoset, the Indianapolis-based three piece bent on making British punk/psychedelic tunes as short as they are sweet. The band, often sounding like their New York counterparts Pavement, promises their newest release in August, Tea Tornado, will be their best work yet."
Stereo Subversion

"Tea Tornado is an excellent window into a group that has weathered nearly a decade and a half (Marmoset was formed in 1995), and still has the ability to pump out an excellent album packed with tracks poised to make the underground garage rock fan drool with delight."
FensePost

"Marmoset may be one of the coolest, greatest bands ever. Seriously, the world has robbed them of the credit and riches deserved to a group who constantly delivers music of the highest caliber. As us fans do before every record, we pray that whatever newest effort they are releasing (the beyond excellent "Tea Tornado" in this case) will be the one that catches on. Fingers crossed this time. What you have here is 14 songs of smart, wispy rock and roll that is audibly clever on all possible levels and remains confident and carefree for the entire duration. Whereas these days most albums feel like a chore to listen to, "Tea Tornado" is the kind that makes you wish there was more time in the day to play it. Don't miss this one. "
Fuck Yeah! Go Team!

"The strange, sparse, simple songs on this album sound something like a modern updated take on Donovan's sound from the 1960s (the vocals are strangely reminiscent at times)...but the hippy dippy elements are virtually nonexistent. At times the band can also sound a bit like The Television Personalities. Part of what this band's music work is the fact that they use only the essential elements to record their songs. You won't hear fifty layers of overdubs here...only the basic ingredients necessary for good pop music. "
babysue

"Overall the sound seems all over the place, spanning genres, decades and other musical trends. And this mixture of old and new really makes it seem fresh and give the impression that they really know what they are doing and what they want to sound like... I pretty much can sum it up in one sentence: 'Go listen to it when it comes out in stores, trust me you wont regret it.'"
Musical Family Tree

"Simple-yet-perfect spacey lo-fi indie pop"
My Old Kentucky Blog

"Marmoset prove that they are as dim as Fruit Bats are bright. And suggest that maybe Interpol were listening nonstop to these guys before they made their first album."
The Indiepit Blog

"Wonderful jangle pop songs... few bands can achieve the mystic feats that singer/bass player Jorma Wittaker, and guitarist Dave Jablonski do with 4 chords."
Nice Guys Last Finish

"Stripped-down lo-fi old school indie a la Sebadoh and Beat Happening. Not to say that these guys are pretending to be retro, Marmoset has been around since the 90s too. Nice short songs with this bizarre feeling of sentimentality that is just a little off kilter and difficult to explain but boy do I love it. Hazy but not psychedelic, catchy but not saccharine."
KUCI Radio

"In terms of keeping a certain sound, Marmoset just loves to experiment. They change from Wilco's "dad-rock" sound to Deerhunter's soft shoegaze tonality."
Olive Music

"Essential listening in the sludgey atmospheric pop realm... Marmoset is still the same old smokey, dark, swagger-saturated AM pop purveyor, and Tea Tornado looks to be just as intriguing as classics Record In Red and Today It’s You."
The Decibel Tolls

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