Overthinking a good pop song can ruin the big fat grin one can elicit. Portland, Ore.'s Mo Troper makes grinningly great power-pop songs, while remaining ridiculously good at covering up his labor-intensive songwriting choices.
From Beloved, Troper's debut album under his own name, "After The Movies" crams heartbreak, hard-hit open chords, doo-doo-doo's and tumbling drums into two minutes. As forceful and as big as the hooks are, Troper eschews guitar solos in order to push and shove as much melody into your ears as possible. And that's the trick: "After The Movies" is a purposefully reckless power-pop song that wastes no time getting stuck in your head.
Beloved comes out April 29 on Good Cheer.
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