Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, clockwise from right: Emily Watkins, Richard Edwards, Erik Kang, Hubert Glover, Andy Fry, Tyler Watkins, Casey Tennis and Chris Fry.

The gestation period for a long-awaited animal is nearly complete.

Epic Records has set July 29 as the release date for "Animal!" -- the major-label debut by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's. The album will be the first from the eight-member Indianapolis-based band since "The Dust of Retreat," which was recorded in late 2004 and released in 2005.

"None of us knew it would take this long," drummer Chris Fry says. "If we would have known, that probably would have been a bad thing."

Fry says he thought the band began work on the follow-up to "Dust" in September 2005, when two weeks were spent recording music at a mountain retreat in Colorado.

"In reality, we weren't even close to beginning," Fry says.

After "Dust's" initial release on local label Standard, larger independent label Artemis picked up the album for reissue in 2006. But as Margot traveled laps around the United States, building a fan base, Artemis' parent company exited the business of releasing new music in January 2007.

With no connections to any label, the band attracted plenty of attention during multiple appearances at 2007's South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas. No contracts were signed, however, and the musicians returned home to make "Animal!" at Queensize Twin Air studio on the Eastside.

The album appeared destined for a difficult birth, as the work was slow and hindered by indecision.

"We were strangling the songs," vocalist-songwriter Richard Edwards says.

Conditions weren't helped by broken air conditioning at Queensize.

"Last summer was really hard," says Casey Tennis, the percussionist known for having infectious fun during the band's live performances. "We had nothing to do and no money."

Better days

Spirits lifted in October, when Epic -- a subsidiary of Sony BMG Music Entertainment -- and the band agreed to a two-album recording contract.

Margot began 2008 in Chicago, where producer Brian Deck (whose credits include work with Iron and Wine and Modest Mouse) oversaw new sessions for "Animal!" at Engine Music Studios.

Braving January and February in the Windy City and sleeping in two rooms down the hall from Engine's control room, band members filled their free time with drinking and a beard-growing contest (aside from keyboardist-vocalist Emily Watkins).

Guitarist Andy Fry, Chris's older brother, compared the isolated experience in tight quarters to horror tale "The Shining" -- but with a happy ending.

Stars-of-tomorrow buzz is revving up once more for the band, which was one of eight acts selected for a "Who's Next '08" feature published in the February issue of Spin magazine.

Margot will headline a Rock for Riley fundraiser April 4 at the Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave., and Andy Fry anticipates an appearance on late-night network television this summer.

Although signing to a major label is the same as trading purity for evil among some of the band's followers, the guitarist credits Epic for making "Animal!" a reality.

"I think the main thing was getting someone to commit to releasing (the album)," Andy Fry says. "As it turned out, the project became so ambitious that we needed that kind of money to finish it."

Because the band has recorded more than 20 songs, Fry's definition of "ambitious" may include the release of another album within months of "Animal!" arriving in stores.

Reports of the band adopting "panic pop" as its new genre seem to be as winking and facetious as the proclamation of "scarf rock" attached to "The Dust of Retreat." And when Edwards frames "Animal!" as a concept album based on the 1990s Heaven's Gate cult, he's likely making a joke at a music journalist's expense.

In the tradition of "Dust," "Animal!" relates stories of love and regret -- with no holds barred. On new song "Flower Pot," Edwards intermingles pleasure and pain in the lyric, "We will dance on broken sheets of glass."

His voice is front and center in the sound mix, demanding a listener's attention.

As a rock band that specializes in orchestral pop, Margot populates "Animal!" with violin and other strings played by Erik Kang, trumpet and additional horns played by Hubert Glover and crashing rhythms provided by Chris Fry and Tennis.

"It seems like what's brutal is more brutal, and what's delicate is more delicate," Tennis says of the album. "There are some ballads, and some pretty scary stuff, too."

"There are sections of complete chaos that close up real quick," Andy Fry adds.

A band at work

The musicians refer to "Animal!" as the first project made by the band's entire roster.

In the group's earliest incarnation, Edwards, bass player Tyler Watkins and the Fry brothers recorded basic tracks for "The Dust of Retreat." The quartet gradually added Emily Watkins (no relation to Tyler), Glover, Tennis and cellist Jesse Lee (who left the band between "Dust" and the making of "Animal!" because he tired of touring, Edwards says).

"The songs just seemed a little empty," Chris Fry recalls. "There was a space, and it seemed like there was room for more instruments."

"Animal!" producer Deck encouraged recording strategies that weren't built on the typical foundation of guitar and drums. "Instead of just trying to adorn the songs, I think people were interested in creatively reshaping how they would come out -- with Richard as the filter," Andy Fry says.

The players flex their talents on a sprawling song titled "Mariel's Bad Dream," which is known within the band as "the opera."

Tennis, who joined the band after the making of "Dust," brought his knack for originality from the stage into the studio.

"Casey is real fond of finding trash and beating on it," Andy Fry says. "Brian fully embraced that. I think he helped flesh out the reason we have two drummers. He made that make a lot of sense, which I'm happy about. 'When does a real drum kit need to be going, and when should you be banging on a suitcase?'"

Edwards credits Deck for realizing when work was finished.

"We have a tendency to go overboard on stuff," the singer says. "It was a matter of (Deck) saying, 'I think this is done. Why would you want to work another 12 hours on this guitar solo?'"

The next chapter

At age 24, Edwards is the acknowledged leader of a road- and studio-tested family of eight.

He still prefers playing small clubs to multiact festivals, and Margot's incremental pace of popularity suits him fine.

"I wish we would have made another record a little sooner," he says. "But I'm so happy with this one that I think it's probably a good thing that it took us as long as it did. After this record, we'll probably know more about whether we're going to be a decent band in terms of attention or fans or whatever."

People haven't forgotten about Margot during the band's year of low-profile activity. The best evidence may be found in fan comments that roll daily onto the band's MySpace.com profile.

A sampling: "Your music's amazing. I hope you know," "Margot = love." "Don't know how I'd get through the day without you."

At YouTube.com, fans can download performances of songs the band has played only in concert and never on a recording.

"(The music) seems like it really touches people," Andy Fry says. "Obviously, you could make fun of us just as easily as be touched by the music. But it touches me. The fact that other people feel the same way is a nice affirmation that I'm actually a human being."