SF Weekly

July 19-25, 1995

— Born to Quit (Capitol)

Though the Smoking Popes are being marketed as the latest up-to-the- minute pop punkers, half the songs on Born to Quit, the band’s major-label debut, are what used to be called “heartland rock,” about as straight-up and mid- tempo as it comes. Which isn’t to diminish the Popes’ credibility — this is a criminally catchy quartet. From the way-west suburbs of Chicago, the Caterer brothers (josh, Mart, Eli) and neighborhood drummer Mike Felumlee range in age from 20 to 24, four butt-smoking dorks with buzz cuts and button-down collars. Like most good garage bands, their songs are tunes, as in “tuneful melodies.” “Need You Around.” the first single, is a horse race of rock rhythm incongruously led by Josh Caterer’s half speed, woebegone warble. Other songs similarly address love interests; one’s named “Rubella,” and another posits a “Mrs. You and Me.” If the Popes’ repertoire is predictable, at least it’s filler-free (at 28 minutes long, Quit better be). It’s also funny. With Felumlee’s crashing ‘timekeeping and the guitarists’ Ramones-y dumbing down, the band mugs for the narrator of “Just Broke Up” in a parody of the conventional brokenhearted lament. Conversely, “On the Shoulder” is sincerelv wistful, in a power-ballad sort of way. Much has been made of the damage America’s suburbs do to our culture. Unpretentious and not too smarmy, neither under- nor overachievers. the Smoking Popes are what’s right about the ‘burbs.

-James Sullivan