It's a bit difficult for us to convey just how psyched we are for Sunday night's concert at the North Star Bar. Not one, but two of our favorite bands will hitting town to provide some much-needed respite from the 24-7 Olympics coverage we've been drowning in. So some good brew, some good bar food, and some excellent tunes sounds like just what we need to get us out of the house (not to mention get us mentally calm before launching into the work week on Monday). And oh, how excellent the tunes will be, what with Paper Rival (MySpace) and The Honorary Title (MySpace) on the schedule. (And we've actually compared Paper Rival to The Honorary Title on these very pages, so we're especially excited about this show.)

We'll start with Paper Rival. Last time we saw these guys, they were a completely unknown band playing on the undercard at the North Star. This time when we see them, they'll be a completely unknown band playing on the undercard at the North Star. So not a lot has changed, right? Well, that wouldn't be a fair statement. Last time, they had just put out a self-titled EP. That album, despite being only 5 songs long, managed to crack this Phillyist's favorite albums of 2007 list. Well, since then, Paper Rival has put out a full-length album, Dialog, which we can safely say is a stone-cold lock for this year's favorite albums list. Paper Rival clearly challenged themselves and experimented with their songwriting for this album, and the result is an outstanding, earnest alt-rock album. When you hear songs like "Bluebird" and "Cassandra" (the insert video), you can't help but wonder how this band hasn't yet reached a wider audience. Maybe it's only a matter of time before they do; after all, Dialog has only been out for a few months. So jump on the Paper Rival bandwagon early, starting Sunday.

As if Paper Rival wasn't enough, the headliner Sunday is The Honorary Title, whose most recent album, Scream & Light Up the Sky was only number 1 on that list of favorite albums of 2007 that was mentioned earlier. We've covered them a number of times over the last year and a half. The scary, and slightly frustrating, thing is that we don't think The Honorary Title has shown its full potential in the couple live performances we've seen them do. Hopefully, in the smaller venue of the North Star, with some killer support in the form of Paper Rival (whose live chops are very impressive), we'll get a top-notch performance out of The Honorary Title as well.

And then we really won't want to go to work on Monday...

The Honorary Title, with The New Frontiers (MySpace), Paper Rival, and Mansions
Sun, 8/17/08
7 p.m., all ages
North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St. (map)
Tickets: $12