Don't blame Epic Records for thinking it had found the next Arcade Fire in Indianapolis band Margot & the Nuclear So and So's. Singer and songwriter Richard Edwards had a beautiful and poisonous way with lyrics and phrasing, and his motley ensemble had chamber-pop power to burn. That all fell apart with a truly epic sophomore album debacle (the band rejected the label's version and pushed its own release), and since then it has been one fitful cycle of retrenchment after another. But this year's Rot Gut, Domestic pulls out of the death spiral with a daredevil barrage of cold-blooded grunge and feverish pop choruses.
Why You Should Go: Having cancelled its March date in St. Louis, Margot is now touring behind its loudest album and sounding like it still has something to prove.
