(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

A family-run band from the Chicago area, the Smoking Popes debuted with Get Fired (Johann's Face, 1993) under the banner of the more furious Ramones rather than the sugary Buzzcocks (Let's Hear It For Love).

Born To Quit (Capitol, 1995) contains love songs with catchy choruses (Rubella) that fit into the region’s glorious punk-pop tradition (from Cheap Trick to Shoes, Green to Material Issue), but they are often as awkward as the worst Beatles songs (My Lucky Day). To make matters worse, Josh Caterer delivers his hymns in a vocal style that recalls (gasp) Morrissey (Need You Around). In short, there is none of the cynicism and pessimism of the Green Day (their godfathers).

Josh Caterer returned with Duvall, a band that released Volume & Density (Asian Man, 2004), surprisingly his most mature power-pop statement.