Sargasso Trio

British threesome the Sargasso Trio call their music "synth folk," and their official press bio claims that the multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriters — Emily Siddall, Pete Murdoch, and Ben Winn — met while playing in a 40-piece samba band in the somewhat unlikely setting of Norwich, England. Those three influences — synthesizers, folk music, and samba — are at the base of the Sargasso Trio's sound, making them both analogous to cross-cultural contemporaries like Vampire Weekend or White Shoes & the Couples Company, and a post-millennial updating of the strain of minimalist, Brazilian-influenced post-punk of the early '80s that included Young Marble Giants, Antena, and early Everything But the Girl. All three members sing, and they trade instruments freely although the default staging is Murdoch on guitar, Siddal on keyboards, and lead vocals, and Winn on drums. Formed in Norwich in 2002, the Sargasso Trio signed with the small indie Boy Scout Recordings and released their self-titled debut EP in January 2006. This was followed by a pair of 2007 singles, "It's Hot in Hell" and "Heels on Fire." The Sargasso Trio's debut album, Burnin Burnin Burnin, included both of those songs and was released in February 2008.