Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Not Animal
Rating: 2.0
Label: Epic
Things were not supposed to happen this way. Following a critically-acclaimed but little heard debut (2005′s The Dust of Retreat), Indianapolis collective Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s were signed by Epic Records in 2007. I can’t speak for the band, but this big label signing must have been exciting. That is, until they delivered their follow-up, Animal! The story of band versus label has been well-chronicled before in high profile battles such as Wilco vs. Reprise. After delivering a final cut of Animal!, the members of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s learned the label did not like the album. So, the band’s version came out on vinyl and digital while Epic put out their rendition, Not Animal, on CD. It is no surprise which edition will get all the publicity money.
Unfortunately, Not Animal is no Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Though there are eight members in the band, Not Animal belongs entirely to singer, principle songwriter and guitarist Richard Edwards. These are his songs and his lyrics are front and center. The album kicks off with the angsty-titled “A Children’s Crusade on Acid,” a standard pop tune with a pleasant piano line muffled by strange synth sounds and a bizarre battery of drums. Edwards sings of “uncertain times” like a Thom Yorke for the MTV set; but if Edwards is a Yorke wanna-be, then the rest of the album can be considered Radiohead-lite. Though some of the melodies are pretty (“German Motor Car” and “Pages Written on the Wall” in particular) Not Animal lacks the depth and subtlety of even the weakest tracks from Pablo Honey. The biggest problem is Edwards himself. The lyrics are too obvious (“I’m your right hand / I’m your best man” from “Hello Vagina”) or sophomoric (“Settle down / You’re starting to freak me out” from “Holy Cow!”). It is hard to take Edwards’ art seriously when his writing incites giggles.
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s succeed only when its an entire band affair. “As Tall as Cliffs” is an effervescent folk song that explodes into a full-band crescendo and one can forgive the infantile lyrics of “Pages” for its blasts of funky guitar and squalling horns. Unfortunately, these flares of inspiration don’t make up for the other pedestrian tunes here. Can one really take a band seriously with titles like “Hello Vagina” and “Real Naked Girls?” I can’t.
Is it really fair to review an album that does not match the original vision of the band? I’m sure Animal! is a much darker, different affair. Not Animal contains hints of darkness, something that is apparently a big no-no to controlling record execs. Unfortunately, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s cannot blame everything on Epic. Edwards still needs to grow as a songwriter, shade his metaphors to preclude obvious symbolism and boy band lust. It is when Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s become ramshackle, allow themselves to rock out, that Not Animal succeeds.
by David Harris
