The Tropes are a fictional band. Avoiding the age of authenticity’s superficial honesty, The Tropes are happy to embrace self-mythologizing.

Their debut album No Cover, finally released after 16 years in the scene, is effectively their origin story. It retells their rise from a dive bar where lead singer Johnny was famously stabbed to the “most important battle of the bands performance in modern history”.

It’s a coming-of-age story full of heartache and arrogance. It’s rock ‘n’ roll.