CD Review – Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s
Buzzard
Mariel Recording Company
Top notch indie-pop. Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s (which ironically doesn’t include any females) have created what should be the front-runner for the Alternative Album of the Year Grammy award. Beginning with the instantly catchy “Birds” (and the chorus that morphs from “Let’s have a baby” to “Let’s make it evil”) and ending with the hauntingly acoustic “I Do,” the band has made their best album to date.
“Claws Off” has one of the best lines: If you want to go/ Get lost. It’s a nice little kiss off to a soon-to-be ex.
“Let’s Paint Our Teeth Green” and “New York City Hotel Blues” are tracks that would fit perfectly as the backdrop of a seedy strip joint. It makes sense because the album was recorded in an abandoned movie theater in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, where they found a bunch of 8mm “nudie cutie” movies in the theater’s basement. That’s when the writing began.
The one thing that will forever endear me to this record however, is something that was more eerie coincidence than anything else. A good friend of mine sent a rough draft of a poem for me to look at and while I was reading, I happened to be listening to “Tiny Vampire Robot.” The words of the poem fit perfectly with the rhythm of the song and I started singing the words to the poem with the minor chord-laden music of the song. It was one of those truly surreal experiences that has only happened a couple other times in my life.
And it endeared me to my friend, her immense writing talent and the strange connection that music has in my life. I could listen to Buzzard over and over again without that incident because, frankly, the album is just that good. As it is, there will always be a spot on my CD rack for Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s.
