LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Popes: Smoking Popes
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Four guys from Chicago who make the word “unassuming” seem woefully inadequate, the Smoking Popes spent a large chunk of the 1990s playing a deliciously tuneful brand of punk-pop that was all but ignored at the time. The live CD/DVD At Metro captures the band at a sold-out reunion gig this past November, where they seemed to decide that they were done being invisible. Despite the seven-year hiatus, there’s no sign that they’re at anything other than the top of their game; “Before I’m Gone” finds brothers Josh and Eli Caterer ecstatically squeezing out simultaneous guitar solos, and the band is muscular while protecting the melodies from being pummeled into oblivion. The songs are pretty much exclusively about love lost, anticipated and captured, and the Smoking Popes are versatile enough to pull off something as terse as “Writing A Letter” – seven lines, two chords, one key change and a breakneck tempo – and as verbose as “Pretty Pathetic,” a heartbreakingly self-pitying hard-luck story being sung to someone who may or may not be the person that the next song is going to be about. Both songs approach pop perfection from opposite sides, and At Metro offers plenty of others in between.
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Presale tickets for the Smoking Popes at the Metro March 11th and 12th go on sale at noon on Thursday January 19! Q101.com for more info. Regular sales begin Saturday January 21.
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In late 1998, the Smoking Popes appeared to be doing pretty well. They were two albums into a deal with Capitol Records, having just released the critically-lauded Destination Failure the year before; trekking across the globe to play infectious pop-punk, highlighted by Swing-era crooning, to diehard fans; and collecting praise from hard-to-impress indies and fans like Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong.
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In 1997, the Smoking Popes released "Destination Failure," which many consider to be their masterpiece. Earning an 8.8 from Pitchforkmedia, the album challenged the idea of what a pop punk band could do, with songwriting that didn't always adhere to verse/chorus/verse progression and lyrics that told tales of love and longing with heartbreaking details.
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Last night on WXRT's "Sound Opinions" Josh announced that there will be more Smoking Popes shows to come after Nov 11. They're planning to reissue some of their old material in early '06, with a tour to support the release. Josh ... mentioned that they would begin working on songs for a new album. Is that awesome, or what?!
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In the months since reforming the Popes have found a new home at Victory Records, the popular Chicago-based indie label that discovered bands like Bayside, Taking Back Sunday, Silversteen and Straylight Run. Victory is putting out a new live CD and DVD by the band in late February, just about the time The Smoking Popes' bus rolls into clubs they haven't played at nearly 10 years.
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