The Roman Numerals sounds like a great name for a Nuggets-vintage teen garage act, but this Kansas City neo-new wave act stops the wayback machine circa 1984, not 1965. With roots in a tongue-in-cheek
Joy Division cover band called
Unknown Pleasures, the Roman Numerals (featuring ex-members of
Shiner,
Season to Risk, and other semi-famous indie bands of the '90s) avoid monochromatic post-punk gloom in their own music. Instead, the overall feel of songs like first single "The Rule of V" has more in common with the moody but danceable synth rock of U.K. acts like
the Comsat Angels and American Anglophiles like
the Suburbs. Singers
William Smith and
Stephen Tulipana don't go so far as to affect British accents, but songs like the lugubrious two-part "My Life After Death" and the jittery "Can We Trust Your Architect?" will be instantly familiar to anyone with more than a couple of releases on the 4AD and Factory labels.