4 out of 5

Produced by: Marmoset?

Label: Secretly Canadian

Scrappy and brief, just like it oughta be.

The whole lo-fi, off-the-cuff indie thing is harder to do consistently than the tossed-off nature of it sometimes suggests.  Many have delivered that single album of joy, but growing beyond that can he a chore.  Marmoset built their style on that very template with Hiddenforbidden, but as proof of the talent that’s allowed them to subsist over several subsequent albums (and Whittaker’s solo stuff), you can travel up and down their catalogue – even to this first release – and hear a variation on their theme that’s unique to that listen while still being chock full of enthusiasm (or, perhaps, “enthusiasm” for the slacker crew) and instantly identifiable as Marmoset.

Hidden Forbidden is the kind of slight release – 9 tracks, 15ish minutes – that’d you almost expect to make a splash and then have the band disappear after a disappointing follow up, but of course, we know that not to be true…

Speaking to the content itself, there may not be much to say except that it’s delightfully varied between shambling ditties and rockers.  There’s admittedly some TFUL282-esque feller filler – something Marmoset would maintain in subsequent releases, but feels better placed on their full lengths, whereas here it doesn’t quite fit as intro / outro / or, uh between-tro, it just sort of makes you glance at the track list to see what’s next. Happily, what’s next is always intriguing, in that slightly silly and mysterious way Whittaker tells his little tales, or how Marmoset co-opts riffs or sounds before diving off the deep end into a two minute indie jam.

Hidden Forbidden is the perfect dose of this stuff.