Smoking Popes – Live
(Double Zero)

The Smoking Popes are one of those bands that have spent their whole career just under the mainstream radar, so to speak. They did cause a few small blips when they released their album Born To Quit on Capitol Records, with the song “Need You Around” receiving some moderate commercial radio airplay. After that, however, they once again vanished without a trace. Or so it seemed. The truth is, they have been together since 1990, releasing records on an indie label and steadily building up an underground following of fans throughout the years. Then they were signed to Capitol Records and released two albums before breaking up in 1998. Since then they have started up their own record label, using it to release a compilation of their old 7 inches and now a brand new live album.

The music of the Smoking Popes could be loosely described as a mixture between Jawbreaker and The Smiths. Their songs have a melancholy feel to them, while still packing a punk rock punch. Not only that, but there is an uncanny resemblance between the vocal stylings of Morrissey and Josh Caterer, lead singer for the Popes. As it turns out, Morrissey is actually a big fan of the band, having taken them on tour in the past.

Now normally under the circumstances I would be tempted to say that this such a live album is just a lame attempt by the band to keep making money off of their past works. However, I’m convinced that this live album really is something for the fans. It is a recording of a show they played at The Metro in Chicago from 1998. It contains 22 tracks, and over 70 minutes of music, which is pretty astounding.

Although some of the songs are a little bit bass heavy in the mixing, and the vocals are occasionally drowned out by the guitars, overall the sound quality is excellent. The crowd noise has been kept to a minimum except at a few key points (such as their sing along at the beginning of the song “Double Fisted Love”). There isn’t much talking in between songs, the Popes prefer to concentrate on the thing they love most, that being the music. They run through song after song, blending them seamlessly together. This album could have been one long track on the cd as far as I’m concerned because it all flows so well together.

For fans of the Smoking Popes, this album is well worth having. It has an excellent selection of songs, spanning from their first 7 inch through to their final LP Destination Failure. However, the Smoking Popes are a band that just about anyone could get into, and this album could potentially serve as a good introduction for those who are unfamiliar with their previous works (such as myself). That certainly isn’t something I would say for most live albums. — Sean