Meh-NAH-meh-nuh? Meh-NOH-meh-nuh? Meh-noh-MEE-nuh? A nonsense word, an inside joke, or derived from that fantastic old school Muppet Show sketch?

Whatever it is, it’s not much of a telling name for a band with such a wide array of musical backgrounds and interests. Their debut I Am the Fun Blame Monster! was characteristically all-over-the-map in its creativity, but erred on the side of goofy and even a little obtuse. Then came Under an Hour, a score of three lengthy pieces set to accompany a modern dance troupe. By turns delicate and proggy, it was a considerable musical achievement but not the type of thing to register on every blogger’s musical radar.

2007’s Friend and Foe did that trick though, picking up all kinds of positive reviews, daily mp3 blasts, and a number of prominent live shows. Opening track “Muscle’n Flo” kicked things off with a grooving bass, yelped classically-indie vocals, and a piano-line straight out of a Sigur Ros suite or a Phish breakdown — no mean feat. Elsewhere, “Rotten Hell” teetered between a gutter sing-a-long and a dynamic, ecstatic bridge. Pitchfork loved the hell out of it, and the AV Club called it a “demolition bumper car ride” (errr…in a good way).