SMOKING POPES
Live (Double Zero Records)
Reviewed by David J. Klug

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Fans of the Smoking Popes will love this record. Where so many live records fail to capture the excitement or the element of show, this band was in its prime when Live was recorded at Chicago's Metro in 1998. It also happened to be the band's last live performance, and captures much of the best of what the band had to offer from their records Get Fired (1993), Born To Quit (1995) and Destination Failure (1996). With 22 songs in all, it includes Popes' classics "Need You Around," "Double Fisted Love," "Not That Kind Of Girlfriend," and "Rubella." Lead vocalist Josh Caterer, often compared to Morrisey, was in top form and the band was fist tight. Talk about the memories. I discovered the Popes just in time for the summer of 1994, and the sounds of Get Fired escaped the open windows of my apartment in Chicago's Bucktown more than any other record during those hot months. The Popes are gone, but their music still…nah, it still sizzles.

© 2000 - David J. Klug