Smooch Knob, a Portland-based hybrid of pop punk and bare breasts with a sound surprisingly less suggestive than their name, will hit Hell’s Kitchen Friday, June 27. Though the band (presumably) takes great pride in their combination of well written pop songs and onstage eye candy — another way of referring to the nearly naked “Smooch Girls” that accompany the band at every show — the funny thing about Smooch Knob is this: The aesthetics the Smooch Girls provide are nice, don’t get me wrong (seriously, don’t get me wrong), but the band doesn’t really need them. Musically speaking, Smooch Knob’s melodic and catchy, often Weezer-esque, sound is enough to carry them. This, as much as any inspiring stage antic, is the key to Smooch Knob’s appeal.



The Smooch Girls are really just icing on the scantly clad cake.



Mmmm. Icing.



After a performance at the band’s sixth “Pimps and Ho’s Ball,” which went down last week at Dante’s in Portland and featured Ron Jeremy as a special guest host, Smooch Knob will head north to Tacoma and Hell’s Kitchen. The Hedgehog-hosted event at Dante’s also served as a release party for Smooch Knob’s latest recorded effort, Sophomoric, which officially hit the streets a week earlier on Friday the 13th according to the band’s MySpace page.  No doubt Smooch Knob will dabble heavily in the new material, but also include longtime fan favorites like “300lb Stripper” and “Connie is a Dyke” in the set for the Hell’s Kitchen crowd.



Go for the infectious pop punk, or just go for the Smooch Girls. Either way Smooch Knob’s Hell’s Kitchen show should have everyone talking.



[Hell’s Kitchen, with Mumma Stoge, Sea Jayne Trip and Jonny Bobaluie & The Masters of Bation, Friday, June 27, 9 p.m., $5, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]