Online Now (12)
Settings
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Animal! / Not Animal
By Cassie Gressell
Published: October 25, 2008
Print    Email

Band: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Album(s): Animal! / Not Animal
Label: Epic
Overall Score: 4.5/5

 

There are simply not enough words in my vocabulary to give Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s all of the praise that they deserve. Let’s just get that established and out of the way right now. 2005’s The Dust of Retreat was a lush combination of indie and chamber pop, led by Richard Edwards’ anxious vocals and quirky lyrics, with the remaining seven members of the band pitching in to provide beautiful and, at times, jolting soundscapes. Because of this, when it was announced that rather than releasing a simple follow-up album, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s would be releasing two - label-approved Not Animal, and the album that they had set out to release, Animal! – it’s very likely that the cheers and other celebratory noises of fans were loud enough to be heard the world over.

Not Animal has been described by the band as a compilation of sorts, featuring songs that had become fan favorites over the years that Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s spent touring alongside some of what their new label, Epic, considered to be the strongest tracks on Animal!. Don’t let that for a moment fool you into thinking that the album would consist of radio friendly pop gems and little else, though. While Not Animal might be considered the most accessible of the two, a great deal of that is due to the familiarity of the fan favorite tracks that were included as opposed to a turn to more mainstream tendencies for the band.

Focusing on the songs that appear exclusively on Not Animal, highlights include the folk-tinged “Broadripple is Burning”, “Holy Cow!”, and “The Shivers (I’ve Got ‘em)”. “Broadripple is Burning” shows Richard Edwards getting some help from Emily Watkins, who provides breathy, haunting harmonies alongside the shaky beat and acoustic guitar. “Holy Cow!” is noteworthy almost entirely due to a pleading chorus that gives way to a string heavy conclusion. “The Shivers (I’ve Got ‘em)” is surprisingly noisy when compared to the rest of Not Animal’s tracks, consisting of pounding drums, jerky guitars and a simple melody that would have come across as your average rock song were it not for Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s discordant touches filtering throughout.

An early highlight on Animal! is “Hello Vagina”, which features twinkly instrumentals, a clicking beat and a pulsing chorus. “German Motor Car” gives Edwards an opportunity to show off decidedly stronger vocals on the chorus than his usual quiet delivery, and because of this the song immediately grabs attention, especially with the introduction of a more jolting beat. “A Children’s Crusade on Acid” is possibly the best representation of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s general style, with smooth piano, a jumpy beat and Edwards and Watkins vocals twirling together between brief instrumental breaks. “My Baby (Shoots Her Mouth Off)” and “O’ What a Nightmare” also deserve mention – “My Baby (Shoots Her Mouth Off)” gets much of it’s strength from a modern day orchestral tone, with piano and strings colliding with jerky electric guitars, while “O’ What a Nightmare” takes a slightly similar approach by using moody, jarring verses to lead to a soft, dreamy chorus at first, and then combining bits of each until the entire song is a lesson in controlled chaos.

To say that, with Animal! and Not Animal, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s released a follow-up that doesn’t disappoint would be a vast understatement. Had the band decided to only release the album that had their new label’s approval, they still would have put out a beautiful, well put-together and entirely replayable album. Instead, they released two. It’s hard to say if either album is better than the other since both are filled with strong tracks that perfectly show Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s further developing into the lush, quirky band that The Dust of Retreat originally showed them to be. Getting either album is highly recommended, but in all honesty, you might as well get both. They’re just too good not to.



View Comments (0)