Margot & the Nuclear So & So's

Urban Folk Scarf Rock: That's how Margot & the Nuclear So & So's were billed at last fall's South Park Music Festival. Someone was being cheeky -- there's no way that anyone who'd heard this Indianapolis-based act could genuinely claim that it had crafted a new, wholly unique sound that merited the creation of yet another subgenre. I mean, The Dust of Retreat -- the act's debut disc slated for re-release later this year on Artemis Records -- is a swell record, sure, but it doesn't really push any envelopes. Thing is, it doesn't need to. Guided by Richard Edwards's tuneful, soothing croon, Retreat is easy like Sunday morning. Rollicking one minute and subtly ornate the next, with muted trumpets murmuring against splashes of melodica and streaks of weeping cello, Margot's austere folk pop is pleasing enough on its own without the snickering qualifiers. Then again, cutesy sarcasm is only fitting for an outfit whose name was inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums.