Oxford, England’s math-pop trio, TTNG (formerly known as This Town Needs Guns), brings a hook-focused measure to sophomore release 13.0.0.0.0, named after the Mayan calendar. New singer Henry Tremain’s warm tenor provides an affecting and balanced poise atop the band’s intricate but never excessive math-rock tendencies. Tim Collis’ banjo-like finger-picking creates plaited lines and tautly connects with his brother, Chris’, twitchy drum syncopation. Throughout the precisely structured 14 tracks, TTNG produces postmodern indie pop with shades of the Owls’ dramatic depth, shares of ‘90s-era emo and lean, angular music with lithe pacing. Tunes such as opener “Cat Fantastic,” the nimble “Triptych” and “I’ll Take the Minute Snake” present potential fans portions of emo and math-rock inclinations. TTNG also offers up plaintive acoustics on folk-pop pieces “2 Birds, 1 Stone and an Empty Stomach” and “Pygmy Polygamy,” while elsewhere bits of electronica and post-production edits deliver unexpected shifts.

Grade: B