After spending the past 6 weeks in South Africa, it feels great to be back in the USA. Although I missed some of the comforts of home, I can easily say it was the greatest trip of my life. I had the privilege of witnessing my brother’s wedding outside of Johannesburg, attending 5 World Cup matches in 3 different cities, standing on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, and meeting so many amazing people. We experienced a ton of South Africa’s distinct culture, but the touristy Lion Park still stands out. It might have something to do with our convenient band name, but petting lions was one of the many high points. The sleepy little guy in the photo above was 6 months old (they wouldn’t let me pet the big ones). The photo below is from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town with a view of the city and the Atlantic Ocean in the background. Anyway, I’m very excited to be back in Chicago and jumping into the writing process with my bandmates. We’re looking forward to bringing you new music.
-Karl

The sexy cast of "The Gates"
We’re excited to announce that our song “Girls of Athens” is going to be featured on this Sunday’s episode of the new ABC show “The Gates”! The show, featuring vampires, airs Sunday’s at 10/9c on ABC. So be sure to tune in this week, or set your DVR, and listen for “Girls of Athens” in its primetime network debut! HELL YEAH!
For those of you wondering why Pet Lions is a little quiet lately, well, it’s because Karl has fled the country for South Africa to avoid doing some serious time in the clink back here in The States. Okay, not really. He voluntarily went on vacation to South Africa for a family wedding, and extended the trip to take in some World Cup soccer…but wouldn’t it be cool if he was in fact on the lam? That would give us some serious street cred. But not our Karl. He’s a damn fine American, and one hell of a model citizen. Just last week I saw him giving an old lady a piggy back ride across the street. Above and beyond.
We have some new music coming out incredibly soon, which will be available digitally as well as on 7″ vinyl, so that’s pretty cool. I don’t want to get too far ahead here, but plans are also in the works to record our first full length album in the near future, so there’s plenty of new stuff heading your way.
If you just HAVE to hear Karl play music, just tune into the World Cup and you’ll hear him on the vuvuzela. His is the one that sounds like a bumble bee.
This video was captured on May 7th at the LaSalle Power Company in Chicago. It is the first performance of the song.
Good news, gang. We’re going to be back at Metro on April 25th, this time opening for the top-notch band White Rabbits. If you’re unfamiliar with them, do yourself a favor and check them out, because it’s going to be one hell of a show. Also on the bill are Here We Go Magic, another great band from New York. Tickets are available now, and we highly suggest jumping on them before they’re all gone!
So, to summarize, we’ll see you at Metro on April 25th for a night of rock and roll music you won’t soon forget. Sounds good!
This was an actual loaded gun hanging on the wall at the Up In Smoke BBQ. We didn’t try anything.




