Smoke This...

If ever there was a band that the current crop of pop punk, emotastic (or what ever label is treandy now) bands owe their success to its this group right here. While listening to this cd i found myself conflicted. I was struck by two things. How glaringly obvious this bands influence is on todays most popular bands ranging from pop punk titans Green Day and Blink 182, to more recent up and comers Bayside, who are basically the Smoking Popes with a coat of polish and a name change (Bayside actually covers the song Megan on their acoustic dvd). Secondly, how much better they pull it off when compared to many of todays more popular bands.

As is the case of about any groundbreaking band thats ahead of their time, The Smoking Popes never materialized into the runaway commercial success stories like current bands that cite them as direct influences. Despite being on a major (Capitol) and touring with big names like Green Day and Jimmy Eat world, even rock icon Morrissey, their mainstream appeal was never what Capitol was looking for despite calling in the veritable hit guaranteeing producer Jerry Finn to produce Destination Failure.

This compounded with the fact that the singer/founder Josh Carter began to become deeply involved with Christianity, the band decided to call it quits..


Pros:

Everything... must own cd
Great guitar driven rock with that perfect amount of punk flair, and a dose of pop sensibility

Cons:

none


Sounds Like:
Bayside, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World