MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO’S

After conflicts with their label and some soul-searching, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s have chosen the path of self-sufficiency with their fourth album, Rot Gut, Domestic, which was fan-funded through PledgeMusic. Musically, the band has taken its freedom as an opportunity to crank up the amps, and the album opens with several tracks of lumbering, heavy riffs reminiscent of the darker tones of ’90s alt-rock. This could be the mark of producer John Congleton, whose work includes credits with the Thermals, the Mountain Goats and St. Vincent. The band once known for its chamber pop hasn’t lost its knack for arrangements, and fills the space around the guitars with vintage and proto-Goth synths. After the initial abrasive guitar shock, Rot Gut tones things down a bit. On a few tracks, the album even gives way to sensitive vocals backed by subdued acoustic arrangements. –Amanda Farah