Sig Transit Gloria

With its hyperactive keyboards and drums, the opening "Song in F" recalls the glory days of the paisley underground. The rest of Sig Transit Gloria's self-titled debut is more straightforward neo-post-punk, with the guitars taking precedence (although the carnival-like keyboards make a welcome reappearance on "For Sale" and "Hurt to Smile"), but the nervous, jumpy feeling of the opener continues pretty much non-stop through the end of the album. In lesser hands, this might cause listener fatigue quite quickly, but the wonder of Sig Transit Gloria is that, conversely, the album seems to just get better as it goes on. It's a pity that this suburban Illinois quartet disbanded soon after this album's release, since this mix of '80s college rock, late-'70s U.K. post-punk and contemporary emo trappings could have been huge following the success of the not-entirely-dissimilar Postal Service and Minus the Bear.