Music Zeitgeist

With David Vandervelde, Judgement Day
October 7, 2008  8:00 PM
Week of Shows, Episode Ten! 

Indianapolis octet Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s will make history tomorrow when Epic Records issues not one, but two albums of new material from the band.  What makes the situation noteworthy is that the first, Animal!, is the album the band wanted to put out, which Epic rejected.  The second, Not Animal, contains the songs Epic wanted to release instead.  Whether or not this compromise will be helpful or harmful to the band remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain: more industry eyes than just those at Epic will be paying attention to the results.

Are you there God? It's us, Margot.

As part of our show preview, we were hoping to ask the band about this unusual strategy, and also if there was any significance to their playing Los Angeles on the day of their dual release, as opposed to Indianapolis or their apparently adopted hometown of Chicago.  Though Margot was game to chat when we contacted them directly, their fancy, major-label publicist had not returned our inquires to schedule said interview as of press time.

In any event, both albums streamed for a day on the band’s MySpace page last week, and though some songs grace both records, the content of Animal! appears to lean more toward a post-modern Fleetwood Mac, whereas Not Animal sounds more like a direct descendent of Margot’s (non-Epic Records) debut, The Dust Of Retreat.  However, in neither case did the songs particularly represent the noisy, electric guitar-driven fare band leader Richard Edwards had alluded to in previous interviews (though we’ve learned to digest Edwards’ statements with our salt shaker at the ready).

Margot, a perpetual touring machine, puts on a live show that wavers between the heartbreaking and boisterous, combining a standard rock ensemble with strings, horns, keyboards, percussion and other atmospheric elements, all firmly anchored by Edwards’ rock-solid songwriting.  As they’ve played better rooms to bigger, more enthusiastic crowds each time they’ve come through town, we suggest catching them now, which will no doubt qualify some day as “back when.”

Editor’s note: Truffle Jones concludes his Week Of Shows feature tonight, and looks forward to attending his eleventh consecutive show tomorrow night without having to write a review.

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