by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Last year saw the release of Obsession, the full length debut from Brooklyn’s Tea Eater. The trio, led by Tarra Thiessen (Gustaf, Sharkmuffin), revolves around radiant sci-punk warbles and an undeniable force of creative character, garage rock songs propelled with personality. Released last fall via A Diamond Heart Production and La Fam Recordings, the songs offer a wide dynamic, an otherworldly sense of space-age hooks and immediacy providing the glue that’s holding it together. While songs like the title track are prone to jangle with alt-pop charm, while the bratty and swarming groove of “Respect The Wheel” makes for an insistent bop. There’s a major glow emanating from the album, and Tea Eater is keeping that light abuzz with a series of videos, the latest for album centerpiece, “The Taste”.
Directed by Carissa Johnson (Fuel Heart Productions), the animated lyric video captures Tea Eater’s creative and psychedelic energy, bringing Thiessen’s words to life and moving further out into the surreal. “The Taste” was written following a head injury that left Thiessen without the sense of smell or taste. As those senses returned over the years, “The Taste” became a reference to a metallic flavor that lingered while recovering. In a manner that fits Tea Eater’s vivid sense of humor, the song imagines the phenomenon as a tiny creature that has moved into Thiessen’s throat in order to vomit on all her food. It’s an upbeat reflection of less than upbeat times, as Thiessen figured out how to perform again despite feeling like “mashed potatoes”. The song shreds, the video is great. Are you the ladle?