Richard Edwards cements his reputation as a fast-rising singer-songwriter on this debut release from Margot & the Nuclear So & So's.

Just as there's never been an actual Hootie, Marshall Tucker or Pink Floyd playing in a chart-topping rock band, there's no Margot in this group's lineup.

Edwards borrowed the name from "The Royal Tennenbaums," the 2001 film that featured Gwyneth Paltrow as "Margot." (For the record, the fictional Tennenbaums lived on Archer Avenue, which Edwards used as the name for his previous band).

His fascination with the work of movie director Wes Anderson shouldn't be a mystery, as both artists specialize in wry, bittersweet stories told in great detail.

Anderson has supplied fine points through board games piled high in a Tennenbaum closet and Max Fischer's student clubs at Rushmore Academy.

On "The Dust of Retreat," Edwards chooses sonic ornamentation to seduce listeners. When accompanied by nothing more than an acoustic guitar, his songs are strong enough to break hearts and shake convictions.

But when his Margot bandmates add cello, trumpet, banjo and synthesizer in all the right places, the group makes music to please fans of folk, chamber pop and modern rock styles.

At the heart of these tunes, the melodies flow so easily and lyrics unfold so vividly that Edwards is working in the heady neighborhood of Elvis Costello and Paul Westerberg.

Consider this line: "Love is an inkless pen, it's a tavern, it's sin. It's a horrible way to begin."

And if every great album needs a great single, "Retreat" boasts one in "Quiet as a Mouse."

Guitarist Andy Fry rips brash electric chords to drive "Mouse" toward the mainstream, even as cello player Jesse Lee and trumpeter Hubert Glova map out a path to deconstruction.

Lyrically, Edwards spends "Mouse" careening between optimism and gloom. His bright-side best is represented here:

"When I awoke, I was alive in somebody's room. I felt life and love and hope infesting my bones. Wake up, you've got a lot of things to do. Wake up, the sun is rising without you."

06.10.05