2>8>2000

A too-brief EP named after the single day it took to record, 2>8>2000 should have been Sig Transit Gloria's ticket to the pop-emo mainstream that Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab for Cutie soon broke into: these five songs truly knock the entire careers of those two bands into a cocked hat. Produced by Matt Allison (himself a suburban Illinois power pop god whose two late-'80s singles were a frustrating glimpse at the sort of thing Matthew Sweet might have done if he'd had a decent editor), this EP mixes galloping tempos with Mike Perkins' roller-coaster keyboards, giving songs like "Don't Come In" a distinctly early-'80s post-punk edge that recalls earlier times without being slavishly retro. Nate Hanyzewski's guy-next-door vocals are appealingly untutored without being obnoxious or whiny, and the band's taste for slightly-rushed tempos gives the record as a whole a little boost that more bands should consider. A chorus like that of the unashamedly poppy "When I Get Home" proves that the often too-conservative power pop underground shouldn't have been afraid of the kind of new blood Sig Transit Gloria provided. Unfortunately, the group broke up before their true potential could be realized.