Smoking Popes Someday I Ll Smile Again
Smoking Popes – Into The Agony
Smoking Popes
Into The Agony - Asian Man Records
I can't help but get nostalgic when I cover an artist that brings to mind Illinois pop-punk quartet Smoking Popes . The simple but smooth vocals, passionate and approachable lyrics, and invested storytelling never fails to lift my spirit – even if the subject matter isn't always so sunny. When Elway , Sorority Noise , The Midwestern Charm crossed my desk they were all highlights for that very reason. My only gripes? They weren't the Smoking Popes – which wouldn't be such an issue if it hadn't been so darn long since the band's last release.
If I had to guess, Smoking Popes has become somewhat of a hobby project of front man Josh Caterer and his brothers. While once upon a time the band enjoyed some mainstream recognition in the mid-90's on Capitol Records, they've since landed a home on the less visible but perhaps more culturally significant pop-punk pillar, Asian Man Records. Given that the label has no overriding commercial expectation, their continued existence is evidence enough that even in dormancy and fall from mainstream consciousness (their 1995 hit "Rubella" made the music video circuit), the band loves their craft. Such an earnest approach translates into their songs and is part of what makes them so darn loveable.
In truth, the band's prior swan song, This is Only a Test , was my late introduction to the band, and its release marked the start of my heartbreak – and impatience – as the follow-up that never was left me hungry. Working through the band's back catalogue was only so fulfilling, as knowing the finite nature of the material tended to put a damper on things. While this might all seem a little overly personal, my own anecdotes and emotions underscore a common attitude amongst Smoking Popes fans, which highlights the anticipation and excitement surrounding the release of their long awaited seventh full length, Into The Agony .
The album serves as reassurance that while the band may have taken an extended break, their enthusiasm for their craft has never waned. Opener "Simmer Down" sets a rambunctious tone, affirming that the Smoking Popes have no intention to throw in the towel. "In an age of evil kings and queens, hope is burning in the song we sing, I don't want to simmer down, I don't want to simmer down," repeats Josh Caterer in what on later tracks develops into some fairly overt political sentiment. On that note, "Melting America" is perhaps one of the album's true sonic and lyrical highlights. The track's woah-oah choruses bolster a smart play on words that contrasts America's legacy as a melting pot for immigrants with the present administration's protectionist walls. Better still, Flatfoot 56 vocalist Tobin Bawinkel shares vocal duties from the second chorus onwards, offering a rustic, weathered vocal performance seldom associated with Smoking Popes . At first the change is a little out of left field, but quickly begs the question why the band hasn't dabbled in guest vocalists in the past when they play this complimentary.
Otherwise,Into The Agony offers exactly what you'd expect from the latest Smoking Popes outing. Songs like "I Can Feel You" maintain the band's pleasantly inoffensive, mild but catchy demeanor. With vocals that are crisp and melancholy, the band explores the emotions that come with living in oblivious bliss, looking back with longing. "When You Want Something" further brandishes the mark of a quality Popes song in its cool singability in the wake of crushing defeat. "When you want something, that you know you'll never have, and that wanting is what's keeping you alive," sings the band cautiously, followed by the equally wistful line, "when you lose something that you never really had, and that losing feels what it's like to die." The songs are very singable in their power-pop leanings, flourishing further in "Little Lump of Coal" and "No Tomorrow Tonight" as they grow into eloquent earworms by the first chorus. "Someday I'll Smile Again" is a quintessential Popes ballad with a soft intro that takes its time before layering on a warm blanket of instruments that close the album at a reduced tempo – all the makings of a modern Smoking Popes classic.
Into The Agony is everything I had hoped that a new Smoking Popes album would be. There are absolutely no surprises, but after ten years, deviating from the path would have been a disappointment. Instead,Into The Agony is a homecoming celebration that reaffirms all the reasons that fans were holding out hope that this album would eventually happen. Let's just hope we don't have to wait quite as long for the next chapter.
Source: https://www.thepunksite.com/reviews/smoking-popes-into-the-agony/
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