Smoking Popes
Biography
Smoking Popes' take on punk-pop is centered around lead singer Josh Caterer, whose obsessions with big-band records and black-and-white movies on the American Movie Classics channel have led him to develop a vocal style unique in punk -- the Popes sound like a familiar loud guitar band fronted by a lounge singer, mixing uptempo rock with laid-back vocals and lyrics with an old-time romantic feel. The rest of the band, formed in the Chicago area around 1991, consists of Josh's brothers Matt and Eli on bass and guitar, respectively, and drummer Mike Felumlee. While Caterer doesn't think of the band's music as punk, their supporters include the respected punk indie label Johann's Face, Green Day's Billie Joe, Alkaline Trio, and Fall Out Boy.
Johann's Face released the Popes' debut album, Get Fired, in 1993, and their strange style is even more refined on their second album and first major-label effort, 1995's Born to Quit. The latter spawned the heavily rotated single "Need You Around," and tours with Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, and Goo Goo Dolls brought their music to an ever-expanding audience. Destination Failure followed in 1997.
To the heartbreak of many, the Popes called it quits in December 1998.
Selected Discography
They are back! I saw them headlining at a small, packed out venue in the summer of 2007. Caterer took a long hiatus after his conversion to Christianity . During this time he kept busy with playing in the band at his church & a new project, Duval. After few years, Caterer called the band back into action & began a small tour introducing new material for an upcoming release & good amount of the old stuff, too.
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