Friday, October 01, 2010

Album Review: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Buzzard

After a line-up shake up, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's are back at it with a new LP, entitled Buzzard. The Indianapolis group does well with their third full-length, though it's an album that can easily get lost in the flood of today's indie rock records.

Buzzard begins with "Birds," a moderately-paced guitar-driven song that sways along, easing the listener into the record. It slides effortlessly into "Let's Paint Our Teeth Green." However, the transition happens almost too effortlessly--it ends up feeling a lot like the same song.

If you zoned out while listening to Buzzard, "Your Lower Back" will immediately reel you back in. It opens with what sounds like a voiceover from a cheesy high school sex ed video. The rest of the song isn't as intriguing as the intro, but it's a catchy (if not pretty standard) tune nonetheless.

While Buzzard is by no means a bad album, it feels tired before listening through the whole thing once. Most of the songs feel too familiar, something you have heard a million times before yet can't exactly pinpoint when or where. It's primarily slowish guitars and drums, with a few spoken word samples thrown in here and there. The look on the face of the model on the album cover sums it all up: it's just boring.

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's will play Local 506 on Sunday, Oct. 3, with The Lonely Forest and Cameron McGill & What Army. Buzzard is available now on the group's own Mariel Recordings.

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