10 Best Canadian Rock Bands Of All Time
5. The Tea Party
It would be tough to state that Canadian music had a “sound”, but if it did have a sound, it certainly wouldn’t be that of The Tea Party. That’s by no means a knock on the Toronto group, who’ve proudly forged their own path with their love of sounds from Africa and the middle East, along with a passion for all things heavy and the delightfully ‘90s vocals of Jeff Martin.
Their first official release, Splendor Solis, was clearly the work of a group exploding onto the scene knowing exactly what they wanted to do. Many of the songs had previously been self-published on a now-rare eponymous cassette - here they were given polish, and the likes of “Save Me” came right out of the gate sounding like mid-period Zeppelin.
Their sound only expanded further as they went on. “Sister Awake”, one of their best, begins in a British folk vein before pulling in Far Eastern sounds then reverting to a hard rock stomp, Jeff Martin morphing into a less embarrassing Jim Morrison.
By fourth release Transmission, they were adding electronic sounds to their music, creating some of their best work yet. The Tea Party are a great, daring group for any fans of dramatic, unpredictable music.