Station Archive

Pete and John of the PopeAlopes joined us in the studio to talk about all things PopeAlopes including the Davis/Sacramento music scene in the 80's and 90's. We also discussed the famed Olive Pit (ground zero for Davis music circa 1986-1989), in fact, the picture shown is the band in that studio. PopeAlopes was formed in 1985 by UC Davis students Pete Lohstroh, Steven Dueker, Robert Wurz and John Nelson. The band played dark, loud, reverb-drenched music with intertwining guitar arrangements like their trailblazing heroes in The Dream Syndicate and Thin White Rope. A series of demo recordings led to their first LP, An Adder's Tale, produced by True West's Russ Tolman. The band launched a US Tour and followed with other releases including Kerosene and Cavalcade. They also released and EP on Helter Skelter Records. After a lineup change saw drummer John Nelson leaving the band, they released 1999's Chrome Canary before disbanding in 2001.