Margot and those record company so & so’s ( 47 Views )

1. Here’s a new one: Indianapolis band releases a great album in 2006 on an indie label. Band gets signed to huge record company and records 17 songs for their major-label breakthrough. Band whittles it down to 12 tracks and submits them to the record company. Record company doesn’t like it and submits their own version of the album, completely reordered, while adding and subtracting tracks as they see fit. When band and record company can’t reach an agreement, what do they do? Does the record company, who has invested money and energy into the project, tell the band, “Sorry, kids, but see that dotted line? It’s our way or the highway on this one.”? Does the band stick to its artistic guns and refuse to release something they see as not representing their vision? Does the record company pull a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Does the band pull a Radiohead and release the record themselves? Well, if you’re Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s and Epic Records, you compromise without compromising.
   
   Coming out today, Margot’s new album is being released in two different formats and under two different names. Not Animal, is being released digitally and on CD and is the record company’s 13-track version. Animal!, the band’s original 12-track version, is being released solely on vinyl, but includes a digital download card where customers can download the record onto their computers for free. Confused? Think of it like this: There are two different versions of the same album but one (Not Animal) is more a like a compilation of songs that the band has recorded over the last year. The other (Animal!), serves as more of a director’s cut of the album. The two albums only share five tracks. All that being said, I’ve been eagerly anticipating new music from the eight-piece after falling in love with their first album, The Dust of Retreat, and the video for “Quiet as a Mouse.” I’ve had both versions of the new album(s) for about a week and have listened t them both repeatedly, shuffling back and forth so as to not taint the reviewing process. So which is better?
   
   The long answer is neither. Or it both? Both are pretty damn good, but they are different although in somewhat unsurprising ways. Not Animal does sound like a steady collection of songs and a lot more like the type of music Margot made on Dust of Retreat (which got them compared to The Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes). It has a lot more rockers and pop-friendly tracks, but has an experimental playfulness that they only hinted at on Retreat. Animal!, however, sounds like one concise, glorious experiment that almost hears as if the band played it all in one take. Of course we know they didn’t, but the flow of Animal! is alot easier than Not Animal, if not as immediately accesible.
   
   But, c’mon, Seth, you’re an opionated bastard, which is better? Okay, fine, if I had to choose just one I’d go with Animal!. Honestly, I initially thought that the record company got it right on this one, but after a week with both I’ve really grown to love the band’s original vision for the record. Both versions have the best tracks (”German Motor Car,” “Cold, Kind, And Lemon Eyes” and the single, “A Children’s Crusade On Acid”), but in the end I like the idea of looking at any piece of art the way it’s creator intended. I suppose it all depends on what kind of music fan you are, or, moreover, what kind of person you are. If you like your music catchy and immediately pleasuring, preferring it be a soundtrack to your life as opposed to part of your life, then Not Animal might be the way to go. If you like to listen to music, really listen, perhaps with headphones, while pouring over liner notes and every guitar lick, falling in love slowly but steadily, then Animal! is your beast. I, unfortunately, am a little of both, but nobody’s 50/50 when it comes to music. Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s play Wednesday, Oct. 8 with David Vandervelde and Judgement Day at The Casbah. 619-232-HELL. www.margotandthenuclearsoandsos.com
   
   (levent, Turkey)

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