This one takes me back a bit. I remember hearing The Smoking Popes‘ Born to Quit in a BGSU dorm room around the time it first came out. It’s not like you could forget hearing the Popes — Josh Caterer’s croon is rather distinctive.

They’ve held up remarkably well compared to the other pop-punk bands of my youth. They managed to survive the great pop-punk purge of 2000 from my cd collection and they remain in regular rotation to this day. The Smoking Popes have been playing gigs on and off for the past couple years and have recently finished recording a new album that will be out either late this year, or early in 08.

The Smoking Popes – Rubella

The Smoking Popes will be playing The Beachland Ballroom on Saturday night, July 28th with You am I and Houseguest.

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I firmly believe that Ted Leo and The Pharmacists are incapable of a bad performance. Ok, so I’ve only seen them twice, but each time the band played a mammoth set and I’ve never left a Ted Leo show thinking, “Gee…that was great, but I wish they would have played my favorite song.” I also must admit that this sentiment is helped by the fact that I have no fewer than 11 favorite songs by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, and any one of those 11 would count as hearing my favorite, but I think you get my point. Ted Leo is one of the best live shows on the indie circuit today.

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists – Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists will be rocking the Beachland Ballroom Wednesday, August 1st with Jai Alai Savant and The Narrator.