Mopar Stars Are Familiar and Unplaceable at Once — “Lifetime of Pain” Is Why

Mopar Stars surfaced in the summer of 2023 with a four-song tape called Shoot the Moon and immediately landed on the radar of people who pay attention. Members of Poison Ruin, Zorn, Sheer Mag, and Positronix, the band makes music that sounds like it comes from two specific eras that never quite get combined: 70s power pop with huge riffs and stadium guitar noodling, and that particular mid-90s moment when bands like Gin Blossoms and Teenage Fanclub were stacking jangling guitars under heart-crushing hooks. Add Sugar into the mix and you start to get the picture. The result is something that feels so familiar you can’t quite place it.

Official Researchers of the NJ Devil arrives July 31 on K Records / Pereninal and delivers exactly what that description promises: catchy songs, sincere lyrics, and guitars. “Lifetime of Pain” is the new single and video, directed by Jolie M-A. It locks into the record’s sweet spot between Big Star melodicism and Bob Mould guitar density, and does not let go.

If you missed Shoot the Moon, this is a fine place to start catching up. Order the record below.

Order Official Researchers of the NJ Devil ↗

1“Wreck the Bike”

2“Drinkallnite”

3“NJ Darkness”

4“Only Bar in Town”

5“Suped Up Coupe”

6“Everyone Wants What I Got”

7“Tears Don’t Fall (from government eyes)”

8“Smoking Room at the Feather Nest”

9“Lifetime of Pain”

10“Feast for the Smile”

11“American Fast Thing”