Pitchfork

Smoking Popes, the proto-emo rockers who had a minor alterna-rock hit with "Need You Around," have returned. And this time, it isn't personal. Taking a cue from another once-famous Chicago-area emo band that reformed this year, Smoking Popes are now known as Duvall, and will release their debut EP, Standing at the Door, on December 11th. Duvall's lineup includes not only the genteel, soft-spoken Josh Caterer, but also former Popes Eli Caterer (guitar) and Mike Felumlee on drums, with John Sewell of Kidsnack on bass. That's right: thee Kidsnack.

In case you aren't familiar with Smoking Popes, the story goes something like this: big label likes little band's rotation numbers on local radio station and signs them to be "the next thing." They signed to Capitol, who reissued their album Born to Quit, with modest success. When they released their second album for Capitol, Destination: Failure, the label feigned interest, then quietly dropped them. However, its few listeners were "shocked and amazed" by its beautiful, poignant, and heartfelt lyrics. What fans didn't know, however, was that rock and roll was proving to be too much for lead Pope Josh Caterer, who became born again in 1998 and disbanded the group shortly thereafter. They recorded a third album, a covers album entitled The Party's Over, that Capitol refused to release. Not to fear, though; Duvall's label Double Zero will be reissuing this album some time next year.

Like others musicians who've converted in recent years (Bob Dylan, Jeremy Enigk), it probably was only a matter of time until Caterer decided to return to the rock and roll world. After all, emo is the thing the kids love these days, and Smoking Popes have become one of those great, tragic, "lost" bands of the mid-90s. Duvall is currently in the midst of a tour with the beloved emo band Dashboard Confessional. Though the Double Zero website insists that you not think of Duvall as a Smoking Popes reunion, and though they do sound a little bit different, all we can say is "yeah, right." Especially seeing how their set consists of Smoking Popes songs. Here are three whole tour dates:

11-14 Minneapolis, MN - Quest Club
11-15 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
11-16 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre