Portland power popster Mo Troper has announced a new album of Jon Brion covers, led today by his take on "Citgo Sign."
Troper Sings Brion arrives this Friday (November 17) via Lame-O Records. It follows Troper's full cover of the Beatles' Revolver, released in 2021, as well as his most recent collection of self-penned material, last year's MTV.
"The idea was to only choose songs that Brion had never officially released: songs that make me say 'Fuck, I want to hear the real version of this because it's as good as anything on Meaningless," Troper explained in a release, referring to songwriter/producer/composer's well-loved sole solo album from 2001. He selected tracks that, for the most part, appear on a two-disc compilation of demos dating from between 1991 and 1995 that were disseminated on unofficial Brion fan forums before eventually making it to YouTube.
Troper's approach was inspired by an interview wherein Elvis Costello admitted to having considered recording his own version of the Beach Boys' famously abandoned 1967 opus SMiLE. The resultant LP sees the best parts of Brion's demos emphasized, gaining out the guitars and finding hidden gems beneath the reverb veneer.
"Maybe this sounds arrogant, but I wanted to hear a version of 'Citgo Sign' that rocks," Troper added of the lead single, which you can find below along with the album tracklist.
