Smoking Popes Down With Flameshovel for New LP

UPDATE: Smoking Popes no longer down with Flameshovel
Smoking Popes Down With Flameshovel for New LP

Photo by Hayley Murphy

Beloved (and reunited) Chicago pop punk veterans Smoking Popes have signed to hometown indie label Flameshovel to release their first album of new material in over 10 years. (The Party's Over, an album of covers, came out in 2003 after being held up by industry red tape for five years, and 2006's At Metro was a live collection of previous material).

The studio follow-up to 1997's Destination Failure is tentatively titled Stay Down, and Flameshovel will release it this fall. And hey, speaking of 10-year gaps-- that's the exact amount of time by which the Popes' existence pre-dates their new label's.

For an early taste of Stay Down, head on over to Smoking Popes' MySpace to hear "Welcome to Janesville" and "Grab Your Heart and Run". Sounds like the quartet still knows its way around a melody. Good work, fellas!

UPDATE: APPARENTLY THE DEAL WITH FLAMESHOVEL FELL THROUGH. STAY DOWN WAS RELEASED BY APPEAL RECORDS.

Posted by Dave Maher on Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 10:30pm