The long-running Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s were reconfigured upon their leader Richard Edwards’ decision to relocate to Chicago. In the ensuing years, they've established their critical cred with a number of records that have reached an apex (thus far) with album number five: Slingshot to Heaven. Recorded to 2-inch tape and produced by the band in the studio they built with the advance money they’d received for their debut album (The Dust of Retreat), Slingshot to Heaven captures the group at their most natural. Even a track such as “Flying Saucer Blues” is delivered with acoustic guitar and honest harmonies that bring out an ambitious melody. The song is part of a grander tale Edwards is determined to tell about his decade of working impossibly hard as a touring and recording musician while adulthood happened to him along the way. “Los Angeles” sounds like a pipe dream. “Getting’ Fat” sounds like the ugly truth, while “Go to Sleep You Little Creep” takes an affectionate swipe at parenthood.