Smoking Popes Release Protest Song with Guest Vocalist Scott Lucas

Chicago punk legends Smoking Popes have preceded the release of their new full-length studio album with a non-album single called “Allegiance,” an incendiary protest song with guest vocals from Scott Lucas of Local H.

Smoking Popes’ songwriter and lead singer Josh Caterer explains: "Two days after the election, I was filled with anger and disgust over the result, so I picked up a guitar and poured some of those feelings into a song, which turned into this two-and-a-half-minute punk protest tune called 'Allegiance'. It was written and recorded really quickly and we wanted to release it as soon as possible because it speaks to this moment we're living in. And we're excited that Scott was able to be part of it. He's such a great singer...I think having his voice in there adds to the urgency of the message."

Later in the Winter, the Popes will release the new album called Lovely Stuff, their first since 2018’s Into The Agony. The album will be released in March 2025 by the Anxious & Angry label, available on 12” LP vinyl, digital download and streaming platforms. This new self-produced album was recorded at Bombsight Studio, Bloomington IL and Million Yen Studio, Chicago IL with David Rossi and Andy Gerber engineering.

“It took us about two years to make this record,” says lead singer and songwriter Josh Caterer. “We went into the studio with just two songs in the summer of 2022, then I kept writing and we'd go back every few months and record another couple songs. It was a long process because we were doing it all piecemeal, but I think the final product has a cohesive energy. The songs all feel connected.” Two tracks from the album, “Madison” and “Golden Moment,” have already been released as singles and two more are on the way, “Racine” in February and “Fox River Dream” just before the album drops in March.

The title Lovely Stuff was inspired by the band’s recent tour of the UK. “We played a small club in Northwich called the Salty Dog,” Caterer explains, “and at one point the audience started chanting, ‘Lovely stuff! Lovely stuff!’ It was really a beautiful moment and so ridiculously British. I mean, where else in the world would an audience chant that?” The title also signals a departure from the band’s notoriously negative album titles, such as Born to Quit, Destination Failure, and Into the Agony. “Calling this album Lovely Stuff felt right because it says something about where our heads are at right now. I wouldn’t exactly say we’re optimistic, but we’re at least determined to keep moving forward, to keep finding what is lovely in an unlovely world.”

From their early indie releases to their critically acclaimed major label albums, Smoking Popes developed a unique blend of buzzsaw guitars, caffeinated rhythms and heartfelt crooning vocals, combining the angst of punk with the smooth sophistication of Frank Sinatra, creating music both urgent and timeless, and influencing a generation of musicians in their wake. The Los Angeles Times said, “Ever wonder what a traditional lounge singer would sound like backed up by a punk band? The Smoking Popes take that concept one step further: They’ve created a unique kind of music that some listeners are describing as ‘hyperkinetic tear-jerkers’.”

Smoking Popes began in 1991 in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, infusing romantic melancholy and angst-ridden introspection into a truly midwestern style of pop-punk. Since then, they have grown into the very definition of a cult classic band, touring with such bands as Descendents, Dinosaur Jr, Jawbreaker and Jimmy Eat World. Throughout the 90’s and 2000’s, they released a series of critically acclaimed studio albums, landing their songs in movies like Clueless and Tommy Boy, all the while maintaining the edgy and earnest sound that helped earn them their status as emo pioneers.

The band will be touring February through May to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Born To Quit, performing that album in its entirety at all the shows, along with songs from Lovely Stuff and favorites from their catalogue.

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