Epic
2008
Not Animal
About This Album
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.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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