It’s been a couple of years since singer-guitarist Mitchy Collins decided to forgo things like his previous band Oh Honey and using capital letters to start up his L.A. indie pop group lovelytheband; their debut EP, everything I could never say, dropped late last year. The trio seems cut from the same cloth as contemporary synthpop outfits like MGMT or grandads like the Pixies, with a knack for catchy radio-friendly riffs that was evident from their first single, “broken,” a pop gem layered like the best of the Beach Boys that spins a forlorn tale of meeting another lonely soul during a party while waiting to use the bathroom at “some trust fund baby’s Brooklyn loft.”

Backed by guitarist Jordan Greenwald and drummer Sam Price, Collins is reaching for a cynical emotional and philosophical depth in his songwriting uncommon to short and jangly pop tunes (certainly not the usual stock for someone who grew up in New Jersey), and something like three million Spotify visitors have so far given it a spin, propelling sales to number eight on Billboard’s U.S. Alternative chart. The fact that the single made its exclusive premiere on the Billboard site didn’t hurt its ranking, but the rest of the EP (with nary a capital letter in sight) holds up just as well, offering more songs about problematic (and always temporary) relationships, contemplating suicide (the title track), and one about snorting drugs off someone’s chest at Coachella that certainly captures the trippy-sounding conditions under which it was probably composed.

Although “broken” is pretty much the only thing that appears to qualify lovelytheband for a headline slot at the Music Box on March 27, attendees may be lucky enough to see future chart champions on the entrance ramp of their career.