In the last few weeks, the Eagles have looked absolutely anemic against the Giants, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against da' Bears, and unimpressively beaten a couple hopeless teams in the Jets and the Vikings by a mere touchdown apiece. So forgive me for not being that optimistic about Sunday night's game against the Cowboys. Sure, our defense has been fairly solid... if we forget that last 1:57 of the Bears game, where we managed to make Brian Griese look like Jon Elway. But the Cowboys are the best offense not wearing New England Patriots uniforms that we'll see this year. I've resigned myself to getting beaten, probably badly, by our arch-rivals. So much so, in fact, that I won't be watching Sunday night's game. Instead, I'll be spending Sunday night with another rival: Paper Rival.

Right about now, you're probably saying, "Who the hell is Paper Rival?" Well, they're a damn good indie band who recently put out a self-titled EP to build up some buzz before they release a full-length album sometime in 2008. They're one of those indie bands that has the potential to have some major mainstream crossover appeal, kind of the same thing we've said (twice, actually) about The Honorary Title. And while Paper Rival is still flying under the radar, it's a perfect time to catch them, which is why we're blowing off the Eagles game to spend Sunday night at the North Star Bar in Fairmount watching them.

But Paper Rival isn't the only reason we're going to the show. You see, Paper Rival is opening up for The Color Fred, perhaps better known as the project Taking Back Sunday lead guitarist Fred Mascherino left TBS to focus on. The Color Fred has a very different vibe going on than what TBS does. It actually kind of caught us off-guard, because we were expecting something much heavier. But once we adjusted our mindset, we really got into it. Most of you probably haven't heard much, if anything, from The Color Fred's debut album, Bend to Break, because it just came out on Tuesday. But fear not, because for the $12 it costs to go to the show at North Star on Sunday night, you should have a great time anyway. A much better time than you'd have watching the Eagles.

The Color Fred with The Pink Spiders, Paper Rival, and you, me, and everyone we know
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007
North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St. (map)
6:30 PM, All ages
Tickets: $12

Image via Paper Rival MySpace page.