No Dead Time

On No Dead Time, the Panoply Academy Legionnaires create taut, angular indie rock that's effective more often than not. Unlike, say, Slint, the Panoply Academy Legionnaires aren't particularly creepy, and they're not nearly as hyper or disorienting as Melt Banana or the Ex Models, but they still generate a fair amount of tension. The sense of unease in their music mostly comes from the singing, which trembles like a cross between Television's Tom Verlaine and Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh. The band's style of clean-toned, start-stop college-radio indie quirk feels a little quaint, but the Legionnaires are pretty good at it: their tightly constructed songs and quavering melodies pack plenty of punch if you're looking for teeth-clenching rock. The Panoply Academy Legionnaires belong in the same class of nervous-sounding bands as Q & Not U and the Van Pelt.