What The Critics Say
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's signed with Epic Records in 2007, having made enough waves with The Dust of Retreat to climb aboard a major label's roster. The big leagues aren't always accommodating to evolving bands, however, and the band soon clashed with Epic over which songs to include on their follow-up album. Two different records were ultimately released: the band's preferred version, Animal!, and the Epic-appeasing Not Animal, which featured those songs favored by the label. The latter record was the only one to receive a proper CD treatment, with Animal! being relegated to a vinyl/digital release. Accordingly, Not Animal isn't the album Margot intended to issue; rather, it's a compromise between the band's shifting direction and the label's desire for a marketable product. Yet despite the concessions that Margot & the Nuclear So and So's likely had to make, this sophomore effort is hardly conventional radio fodder. Not Animal takes a challenging, nuanced approach to the band's chamber pop sound, which previously drew parallels to Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire. Those comparisons are less evident on this 12-track album, where the band's eight members rarely pile their instruments into lushly orchestrated heaps. Instead, they play their cards like veteran poker players, waiting for key moments to throw down a loaded hand. It takes restraint to act this way -- to downplay the noise emitted by such a large ensemble -- and Not Animal sometimes sounds like a Richard Edwards solo album, as he helms the majority of these songs with his guitar and world-weary voice. When the band comes together, however, Not Animal sounds like the wiser older brother to Retreat's wide-eyed child. One of the strongest tracks, "As Tall as Cliffs," opens with harmonica and bouncing acoustic guitars before slowly adding additional layers: Emily Watkins' gauzy harmonies, Andy Fry's electric guitar, multiple percussive instruments, and -- for a brief 20-second period at the song's conclusion -- a full-band sonic swell. The highlights continue; "Real Naked Girls" is an atmospheric ballad peppered with Nintendo keyboards and strings, "Pages Written on a Wall" mixes James Bond-styled guitar riffs with mariachi horns, and "Hello Vagina" manages to sound sadly sweet despite its masturbatory lyrics ("I am your right hand; I am your best man"). Not Animal gets better as it progresses -- the sparser, melancholic songs are pushed to the front, leaving the band's energetic material to bring up the rear -- and Margot's sophomore album subsequently concludes on a high note, effectively masking any sour taste left by the band's battle with Epic Records. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
'The Dust of Retreat'
What The Critics Say
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's have created an album that both the casual music fan and music perfectionist will enjoy. The Dust of Retreat is a cinematic chamber pop songbook of what was once and what might have been. Singer/songwriter Richard Edwards, only in his early twenties when he composed these mini-epics, is quite fond of New York. Mesmerized by the Greenwich Village art scene of the 1960s and curious about how people lived during that time, he uses this interest as the inspiration behind The Dust of Retreat. Whether that is through film, poetry, or music, the notion that another world exists within those realms holds a romantic kind of quality. That kind of thing is nearly unimaginable unless you lived through it; however, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's build upon some of those castles in the sky. It takes a band of eight to realize this vision, as a lush assortment of strings, brass, percussion, and guitars keeps The Dust of Retreat at a steady pace, regardless of the mood and tone of each song. Edwards is like a less anxious Conor Oberst on the more melodic, folky tracks such as "On a Freezing Chicago Street" and "Skeleton Key." Hints of melancholy waltz along on the acoustically painted "A Light on a Hill" and "Jen Is Bringin the Drugs," but it's the orchestrated pop moments where The Dust of Retreat really takes shape. Just when you think Edwards' voice is going to break, he gains control again, particularly on the album's standout track, "Quiet as a Mouse." Edwards' soaring vocal keeps hope alive in the midst of sorting out self-discovery: "When I awoke/I was alive in somebody's room/I felt life and love and hope infesting my bones/Wake up, you've got a lot of things to do/Wake up, the sun is rising without you." You want to believe him. What The Dust of Retreat does for indie rock in 2006 is almost everything Neutral Milk Hotel wanted to do in 1998 with In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Just give it a chance. [The Dust of Retreat was resequenced and remastered for Artemis Records in 2006]. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
